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Abstract.

Heat waves (HWs) have significant social, economic, and environmental impacts. Longer HWs can impose more heat stress and increase the human‘s mortality risk. This study determines the changes in HWs duration in the Mississippi River Basin (MRB) for the period 1948–2017. HW was defined as at least two consecutive days with a temperature higher than the 90^th percentile threshold. HW maximum duration index ( showed longer HWs in the 21th century. Longer and more frequent HWs may cause heat-related loss to agricultural producers in the MRB with a high distribution of farmlands and livestock.