Sweltering heat that has dogged some parts of the U.S. for more than a month is beginning to hit the Midwest and Northeast, with more than 100 million people now under heat alerts that will remain through Friday.
Southern California to southern Michigan and large portions of the Great Plains and Northeast are expected to be hit by rising temperatures.
Forecasts showed that record highs may be seen Wednesday in Arizona, most notably in Phoenix and Tucson, and in Texas, in Amarillo and Corpus Christi. This will continue the summer’s trend of record-breaking temperatures in the Southwest due to a heat dome that has been parked over the region.
On Tuesday, Phoenix reached a blistering 119 F, which tied for the fourth-highest temperature ever recorded in the city.
The expanding heat wave will begin to affect the northern part of the country later this week, as New York City could flirt with record highs on both Thursday and Friday as temperatures reach the upper 90s. Other parts of the Midwest and Northeast including Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C., could experience dangerous heat for the latter half of the week, with heat index values possibly reaching triple digits.
Relief for the Midwest and Northeast begins this weekend, but the South and Southwest will continue to battle the heat for the foreseeable future.
With less than one week left to go in the month, some cities, including Las Vegas and Tampa, Florida, will likely set a new benchmark for hottest July on record.
