Record-breaking temperatures are expected across the U.S. in the coming days as heatwaves blanket parts of the country, according to the National Weather Service.
“Heat builds in the East through Thursday,” said a Wednesday forecast from the service. It said that record high temperatures in the mid-90s are possible in southern New England on Thursday.
Even though a cold front is forecast to get near the East Thursday, it is only set to contribute to “widespread severe weather,” in the area. Those conditions include an “increasingly hot and humid air mass across the Mid-Atlantic States and New England.”
A report from The Weather Channel said that locations that could have temperatures topping 100 degrees include Philadelphia, Pa. – where that hasn’t happened since 2012, per the Philly Voice – as well as New York City, N.Y., and Denver, Colo. In New York, Central Park also hasn’t reached 100 degrees in more than a decade.
In the West and Central Plaines “significant heat,” was also expanding Wednesday and is expected to continue through Friday, per the NWS.
That is occurring “ahead of the cold front as the ridge rebuilds ahead of the deep layer cyclone, threatening daily record high temperatures 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,” the service added. High temperatures over 100 degrees are expected to hold in the Desert Southwest through the remainder of the week and Extreme Heat Warnings will remain in effect.
“Heat Advisories remain in effect for southern and western fringes of the Big Bend of western Texas on Wednesday where high temperatures of 100-110 degrees are forecast,” the NWS said.
With all these high temperatures expected, The Weather Channel said that people should plan for “oppressive humidity,” to accompany these heat waves into next week. It said that the mid-Mississippi and Ohio Valleys will be particularly impacted by the humidity, as well as the upper Mississippi Valley, the Great Lakes and at least parts of the mid-Atlantic and interior Northeast.
“That means the heat index, or feels-like temperature, will be in the triple digits on one or more days for some cities in the Midwest and Northeast this weekend into early next week,” The Weather Channel explained. The outlet also noted that heat is the top weather killer in the U.S. Resources for extreme heat are available at Heat.gov.
Late last month, Audacy reported that global climate predictions covering the next five years indicate that more record-breaking and even “killer” heat should be expected. Last year also saw record-setting heat levels.