More than 40 million Americans are in the crosshairs of extreme triple-digit heat this week, with some spots soaring over 120 degrees as records fall across the West. The heat in many areas is downright dangerous, prompting excessive heat warnings in seven states where temperatures will be hazardous to human health.
The heat also reinforces a devastating drought that continues to reshape the landscape of the West while simultaneously bolstering worries of what lurks ahead in the fall come fire season. More than half of the western US is gripped by “extreme” or “exceptional” drought according to the US Drought Monitor, the two most severe categories.
In the longer-range, odds continue to favor prolonged hot and dry weather, though some modest relief may arrive this weekend.
But several days straight of unrelenting, record-threatening heat is predicted to take a toll. Heat is the leading weather related killer in the US so National Weather Service offices are urging preparedness.
"Extreme temperatures such as these can extract a heavy cost, from an economic and health perspective," tweeted the Weather Service office in Phoenix, where numerous heat records are predicted to fall.
In Texas, where the heat isn’t as extreme but temperatures are above normal, the states’ power grid manager, ERCOT, asked residents to conserve power on Monday.
On Monday records were shattered in the Desert Southwest and Rockies, including in Tucson, Ariz., where highs hit 112 degrees. Las Vegas spiked to 110.
"Temperatures in Las Vegas will reach at least 113 degrees [on Tuesday], and highs are forecast to be at or above 113 degrees through Saturday," wrote the Weather Service office in Las Vegas. "A five-day stretch of max temperatures at or above 113 has only occurred five times in Las Vegas for the period of record dating back to 1937."
The last time it occurred was in 2017.
The city could also come close Wednesday to tying or breaking its record high temperature of 117. State records are also in jeopardy in Nevada and Arizona. The highest temperatures ever recorded there are 125 and 128 degrees respectively, both set on June 29, 1994.
Highs in Phoenix reached 112 degrees on Monday, and didn’t fall below 90 until after 3 a.m. They’re slated to crest at 116 or 117 degrees on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before "only" hitting 114 degrees on Saturday. That would set a record every day through Friday.
In fact, Phoenix has only once before seen a four-day stretch of highs at or above 116 degrees; this would be only the second time on record dating back to 1933. Wildfire smoke may bring a hazy look to the sky as it drifts in from the 104,755 acre Telegraph fire about 60 miles east of the city. It was 68 percent contained as of Tuesday morning. Smoke from the wildfires could reach New England by Friday as it surfs the jet stream east.
In addition, ground-level ozone and the concentrations of other pollutants have spurred the issuance of an air quality alert for the greater Phoenix area. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is warning of an "increase in adverse health effects."
Los Angeles should join the triple-digit club as well, hitting 100 degrees on Tuesday before settling into the mid 90s on Wednesday.
Death Valley, Calif., famous for holding the highest temperature ever observed on the planet, is expected to hit 125 for the remaining days this week. It hit 118 degrees Monday, the nation’s hottest temperature. Wednesday and Thursday could feature highs of 127 degrees, near its June record. Overnight "lows," or more realistically "minimum temperatures," will hover around 97.
In California’s Central Valley the real heat starts Wednesday — widespread temperatures between 100 and 105 will be the story for places like Redding, Sacramento, and Fresno, where excessive heat warnings are in effect. On Thursday, highs could flirt with 110 degrees, with temperatures approaching 110 on Friday and Saturday. Sacramento could establish a record Thursday by as much as 7 degrees.
It’s not just the Desert Southwest and California’s inland valleys that are baking. Extreme heat has surged through the Rockies and Intermountain West, reaching as far north as Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada.
Billings, Mont., is forecast to hit its highest temperature ever recorded on Tuesday — an astonishing 109 degrees. The city has reached 108 degrees only once before, on July 14, 2002.
"PLEASE stay safe from the heat today and be careful not to spark a fire!" wrote the Billings Weather Service office.
Nearby Helena hit 104 degrees, setting a new June record. The average high for the date is 74 degrees.
Casper, Wyo., is aiming for 102 degrees Tuesday; Salt Lake City, which hit 102 degrees on Saturday and spiked to 103 on Monday, could come close to tying or breaking the June record of 105 degrees as the mercury continues to soar on Tuesday.
Monday’s high was also the earliest 103 degree reading on record in the Utah capital, where most years fail to see temperatures so high.
The heat should relent some late week across the northern Rockies, but will continue in full force across the Southwest.