LAS VEGAS — A punishing heat wave in the Southwest is set to spread east in the coming days, with temperatures more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit expected in the Northeast and possible record highs in parts of New England later this week.
Around 15 million people are under extreme heat warnings or advisories across eastern California, Nevada, Arizona and western Texas. High temperatures well into the triple digits are expected to be widespread across the region Wednesday.
Temperatures this week in southern Nevada are up to 12 F above seasonal averages, according to the National Weather Service. In neighboring Arizona, high temperatures up to 115 F are forecast across the south-central portions of the state.
As the week goes on, heat will expand into the Midwest and the Great Lakes area before engulfing the Northeast this weekend in what will be the region’s first prolonged heat wave.
The weather service said daily record-high temperatures are possible across portions of the Great Basin and western South Dakota on Thursday, and from Colorado north and east into Nebraska and South Dakota on Friday.
Studies have shown that climate change is making heat waves more frequent, more intense and lasting longer.
High heat and humidity will hit the East Coast this weekend and linger into next week. Heat index values (or what conditions “feel like” when humidity and air temperatures are combined) in the mid-90s or higher are possible in New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C.
“For early next week, we are looking at our first stretch of prolonged hot, humid weather beginning Sunday and lasting through at least the middle of next week,” the New York branch of the weather service said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, extreme heat is expected to persist through the remainder of this week across the desert regions of the Southwest, including in Death Valley, where temperatures may climb above 120 F, according to the weather service.
