It’s been a hot summer now. As much as the temperature in upstate New York has me cooped up inside with the air conditioner blowing, it’s nothing compared to various parts of the US being impacted by one of the season’s freakiest weather patterns: the heat dome.

If that’s a new word to you, keep reading and I’ll break down what a heat roof is and what causes it, and for more help, examine CNET’s list of tricks for keeping your household cool in the summer.

What’s a steam roof?

Think of a heat dome as similar to putting a cap on a dish or a cooking plate while cooking things, Alex Lamers of the National Weather Service told NPR.

A heat roof is what happens when a high-pressure program lingers, causing hot air to become trapped under it, resulting in prolonged heat peaks. Just like how putting a cap on a pot or pan baits the warmth and cooks the food faster. Except in this situation, the meal is you and me.  

This is made worse by the fact that high pressure systems are known to produce clean conditions, which can also lead to hotter temperatures.

According to the steam map provided on the National Integrated Heat Health Information System’s established website, heat risks are elevated for most of the country between the Midwest and Lower Mississippi Valley regions and the East Coast, with northeast North Carolina, northern Virginia, the Pittsburgh area, east Pennsylvania, south Maryland, most of New Jersey and almost all of Delaware being under intense heat warnings.  

In the hardest-hit areas, conditions may get as high as 115 degrees, while others will glide between 95 and 100 degrees. All around, it’s the kind of weather than you make the idea of a strength failure a life-or-death situation.

How much do heat domes next?

I wish I had better information for you.

However, heat domes are known to last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, all dependant on how long it takes for the high pressure structure in a given area to walk on or dissolve.  

While AccuWeather reported on June 24 that coming downpours will provide some places with pleasure, no every area will be so lucky. Some places will see the steam dome break down more slowly. So if you were hoping to hard things out without putting the AC on, it’s definitely time to reconsider.

Does climate change make a steam roof worse?

Oh, positively.

Speaking to Time Magazine for a report on the current heat wave, Bill Gallus, a professor of meteorology at Iowa State University, said that cause-and-effect question was “one of the easier (questions ) to answer. ”  

Heat domes, he explained, are one of the more probable outcomes of worsening climate change, even more so than other related conditions activities, such as increased storms and stronger storms.

” There’s so many things that are complicated and we can’t say for sure what climate change is going to do, such as how many hurricanes or tornadoes we get,” Gallus said. ” But it is likely that we will have more heat domes and probably hotter temperatures in the heat domes. “

How to avoid a heat dome

As you might be able to tell from all these explanations so far, there’s not much to do about a heat dome except to get away from it.  

This might entail staying inside where it’s cool or going away to some other place that isn’t suffering under a high-pressure system. Maybe head out to the west coast, where my other CNET colleagues– whom I am not jealous of and never have been, promise– insist the weather is positively temperate. Hope you’re all having fun out there, guys.

Or hey, maybe try the old summertime standby and go see a movie in a nice air-conditioned theater. That new F1 movie looks pretty neat.

For more weather tips, check out CNET’s guide to saving power during summer heat waves.