A heat dome will expand across much of the central United States this weekend and into next week, pushing temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit and exposing roughly 70 million people to heat advisories.
A heat dome, where atmospheric conditions trap heat, will create sustained high temperatures and accumulating discomfort as overnight low temperatures aren’t expected to come down enough for people to recover, and high humidity will make it feel worse, said Bob Oravec, meteorologist with the National Weather Service: "It looks like it is going to be pretty much stationary in that position as we go through the week."
The heat will stretch from the desert Southwest to the Gulf Coast and reach into the Midwest and Great Plains, and some records around the Denver area may be broken as temperatures are expected to be 10 F to 15 F (5.6 to 8.3 C) above what’s normal.
Places under a National Weather Service extreme heat warning included western Nebraska, where temperatures Saturday and Sunday were forecast to reach 108 F (42 C). At the Museum of the Fur Trade near Chadron, Nebraska, there were fewer visitors than usual, and "I’m sure no one would be willing to wear it on a day like this," said museum employee Hannah Lovelace, while loose-fitting, period-correct fabric shirts remained popular sellers among folks headed to historical frontier re-enactments called rendezvous.
Some areas are expected to be spared, including the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast and much of the Pacific Northwest. Fans at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400 on Sunday will be offered water refill stations and places to get cool, and packed coolers are allowed; in Denver, recreation centers will set aside areas for people to get out of the heat and in front of air conditioning.
Children and the elderly, along with those with medical conditions, are especially at risk of serious conditions including heat stroke. Officials urged people to seek out air conditioning or a cooling center, drink enough water and limit time under the direct sun.
The weather will shift somewhat through the week with the worst pockets of heat becoming particularly severe across Texas and parts of the Gulf Coast by Wednesday, and there might be some relief in the central United States toward next weekend, but even that might be temporary, Oravec said.
"It can be difficult to know exactly how climate change contributes to particular events in real time," the article said. "We are experiencing exactly what the climate models in the 1990s said we should experience now. That is more frequent, more severe heat waves, bigger temperature anomalies, more humidity, higher overnight temperatures," Andy Pershing said.