Extreme heat — which has scorched the southern tier of the United States for weeks — is ballooning to the northeast and covering more area than it has all summer.
The heat is gripping the nation as President Biden announced new measures to address dangerously hot temperatures on Thursday, including initiatives to protect outdoor workers who are particularly vulnerable.
More than half of the U.S. population is under excessive-heat warnings or heat advisories into the weekend, stretching from the beaches of Southern California to Maine’s south coast.
A large percentage of the 170 million people under these heat alerts are concentrated from the central states to the Interstate 95 corridor of the Northeast, which is bracing for its hottest weather of the summer so far.
On Thursday, some of the most brutal heat is focused in the central states. St. Louis is under an excessive-heat warning, with highs in the low 100s and heat indexes over 110 degrees expected. Minneapolis, also under a warning, is forecast to reach the upper 90s Thursday with heat indexes 10 degrees higher.
Some of the hottest weather is also shifting into the Northeast. Another heat warning zone runs from Philadelphia to New York City through Friday, for highs in the mid-90s to around 100 degrees and heat indexes of at least 105 degrees.
Advertisement
“A dangerous heat wave will begin Thursday for much of the I-95 corridor,” the National Weather Service wrote Thursday. “It is imperative that residents in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic practice heat safety this week as the hottest stretch of the summer begins on Thursday and continues through Saturday.”
The heat wave will affect areas in the Midwest and Northeast that haven’t seen much extreme heat this summer. But it will be short-lived as the heat is forecast to retreat in these areas by late this weekend.
Meanwhile, in the South and Southwest, which have roasted since late June, the punishing heat shows little sign of relenting.
Intense heat expands east
Into the weekend, the most intense heat compared with normal temperatures will reside over the Midwest, lower Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic, where high temperatures will peak in the mid-90s to around 100. In these areas, it will feel several degrees hotter because of the humidity.
Advertisement
A handful of record highs are threatened Thursday, according to the Weather Service. Washington could come close to its calendar day record of 100, as could several other locations in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
The most-widespread heat in the Northeast is anticipated on Friday. Highs in the mid-90s to around 100 degrees are forecast from Washington to New York. Locations in and around Philadelphia; Trenton, N.J.; Atlantic City; and Scranton, Pa., could approach records.
In addition to the potential for record-high temperatures, dozens of record-warm lows are forecast to fall over the next several days, from the Midwest to the coastal Northeast.
Where relief from the heat is possible
In the next week, Phoenix’s unprecedented streak of highs at or above 110 degrees may come to end, but the temperature is still forecast to reach around 108 degrees.
Advertisement
In the Northeast, July will end and August will open with somewhat cooler-than-normal weather behind a cold front passing through this weekend.
Share this articleShareAnother patch of cooler-than-normal conditions may develop over parts of the northern Plains and into the Rockies, with some occasionally cooler weather also affecting coastal California.
But other portions of the country may see limited or no relief from the heat. From Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas extending eastward into the Mid-South, temperatures may remain well above average into next week, which means highs into the 100s in many spots.
By Monday, Dallas, Austin and Houston may see record highs, with temperatures of about 100 to 105 degrees expected.
Over time, the core of the main heat dome may shift westward, with the most-intense heat potentially focused from the Southwest into western Canada further into August.
Never-ending heat
Even while hot weather has expanded northward and eastward this week, the historically long heat wave across the southern tier has refused to relent.
Advertisement
El Paso saw its record 41st day in a row at or above 100 degrees on Wednesday, 18 days more than its previous record in 1994.
Phoenix’s streak at or above 110 degrees has reached 27 days, nine more than the previous record in 1974. It reached 118 degrees Wednesday, a calendar day record. That marked the seventh time it has hit 118 or higher this month, leaping past the old July record of two such days in 1995.
One streak in Phoenix finally did end Thursday: Its low temperature dipped into the 80s, after a record 16 days at or above 90 degrees.
Phoenix is still easily on track to finish July as the first major American city to have an average monthly temperature of 100 degrees or greater. The 102.9-degree average through Wednesday was a full three degrees hotter than the second-hottest July to date in 2003.
Advertisement
Other Arizona cities are also experiencing record-long hot streaks. Tucson has reached at least 100 for 41 straight days. Winslow, in northern Arizona, has posted a high of 100 or higher for 25 days in a row, nine more than the next-longest streak.
In parts of Central Texas, streaks of 100-degree weather — at around 15 days — are approaching record-long durations, including in Austin. Given the forecast, these records will probably be broken over the coming week.
A majority of weather stations in Arizona and New Mexico as well as along the Gulf Coast and much of Florida are on their way to clinching their warmest Julys on record, including these cities: Las Vegas; Albuquerque; Corpus Christi, Tex.; Baton Rouge; Tampa; and Miami.
Miami has an ongoing record streak of 46 days with heat indexes at or above 100 degrees, and it even survived Wednesday, when the high temperature was a relatively cool 87 degrees because of clouds. But suffocating humidity lingered and the heat index once again nicked 100.
Jason Samenow contributed to this report.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMSmrdOhnKtnYmV%2FdHuPcGZrb1%2BdsqLA1pqtnmWepL%2B1tMSaqq1lnZ6xuLHSrWSrnZOkv6V5056kqZ2ilsG2vsSsZg%3D%3D