A “dangerous and deadly heat wave” is on the way for the Southwest through the weekend, the Phoenix National Weather Service warns. More than 30 million people are under heat alerts, and more than 50 daily high-temperature records could be broken through the weekend — including in Death Valley, California, one of the hottest places on earth.
“Don’t underestimate the heat! Heat is one of the most deadly weather hazards, so be sure to practice heat safety this week,” the Sacramento National Weather Service tweeted. “Record high temperatures will be [felt] across portions of Texas on Wednesday and Thursday and expanding into California on Friday,” the Weather Prediction Center said Wednesday morning.
High pressure will create a heat dome over the Western US. The dome will trap any escaping radiation and send it back to the ground, while the sun’s rays continue to penetrate through.
This, combined with arid soils from an extensive and long-term drought, will allow temperatures to rise to record levels over parts of California and the Southwest, with high temperatures from the upper 90s to over 110 degrees on Friday, the Weather Prediction Center said.
“Please protect yourself,” the Weather Service office in Phoenix warned residents, while the office in Sacramento said that the heat would affect everyone, not just people most sensitive to heat risk. Meteorologists in San Diego advised residents to learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Here’s what you should know.
It’s going to be dry and very hot. An excessive heat warning was in effect through Sunday night for the San Diego area, where temperatures were forecast to reach up to 116 degrees.
Similar sweltering conditions were expected around the Grand Canyon and other parts of central and southwest Arizona. Las Vegas, a city used to soaring temperatures, could reach 109 degrees. Some of the most extreme heat is predicted in Death Valley, along the California-Nevada border, where the mercury could rise to 120 degrees.
According to the NYT, A heat advisory was in effect through Saturday for a large swath of South Central California and western Nevada. Temperatures up to 100 degrees were expected around the Los Angeles area and up to 106 degrees in the San Joaquin Valley.
The Weather Service in Reno, Nev., said temperatures were forecast to max out around 100 degrees on Friday and that the potentially record-setting highs were unusually early in the summer season. On average, Reno doesn’t usually hit the 100-degree mark until about July 10, meteorologists said. Don’t expect the heat to subside anytime soon. This is the beginning of a potentially scorching summer.
