The recent, record-setting heat wave appears to have been triggered by a little-noticed patch of storm activity off the western coast of Central America.

Descriptions abound of the so-called heat dome, a zone of high atmospheric pressure that pushed warm air down over the central and eastern United States, then held it for a sweltering week.

But with the average evening news weather map ending at U.S. borders, the heat dome seemed to come from nowhere. Of course that’s not the case.

“Subsiding” — descending — “air over the United States is associated with the heat wave. Where is the air subsiding...

Forty years ago, an automotive upstart called AMG raced a Mercedes-Benz sedan in the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. It was an unusual entry for the company’s first race, and few expected much from it. But the big Benz blew the doors off almost everything in its path and finished second, instantly establishing AMG’s credibility as a tuner.

This weekend, Black Falcon racing and AMG pay tribute to that car when they compete at Spa in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 wearing identical livery. To complete the homage, one of the three men driving the car will be Kenneth Heyer, whose father Hans Heyer was...