Dangerous Heat Wave Expands from Plains, Midwest to East into This Weekend
At a Glance
- Hot temperatures are spreading from the Plains to the East Coast.
- The heat index will rise to dangerous levels in parts of those regions.
- This level of heat could become deadly, especially in large metro areas.
- Widespread daily record highs are unlikely, but a few could be set, particularly in the Northeast
- Relief from the intense heat will arrive early next week.
A heat wave is expanding from the Plains and Midwest and will linger in the East through this weekend, bringing many cities their hottest temperatures so far this summer and creating dangerous heat indices.
(CURRENT MAPS: Temperatures | Heat Indices)
The National Weather Service has issued excessive heat warnings, watches and heat advisories in the Plains, Midwest and much of the East to warn residents of the dangerously hot conditions over the next few days.
Excessive heat warnings are issued when afternoon heat indices are expected to be dangerous, if not deadly, for those with prolonged exposure to the heat. Overnight temperatures may not drop far enough to bring relief from the heat, particularly in larger cities, which tend to “hold in” heat more than rural areas.
DC to feel almost as hot as Death Valley on Saturday
This story has been updated. This story has the latest information on the heat and when cooler air is forecast to arrive.
The northeastern United States will sizzle this week as summer heat builds to near-record levels in some places, with many metropolitan areas experiencing the hottest air temperatures of the summer so far as a heat wave envelopes a wide swath of the United States.
In the nation’s capital, AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperatures on Saturday are forecast to reach 110 F, just 2 degrees shy of the RealFeel Temperature forecast for Death Valley, California, on the same day.
Washington, D.C., will also swelter with a forecast high of 100; however, the nation’s capital likely won’t break its daily and all-time high of 106 hit on July 20, 1930, about 12 years after the mercury hit 106 in 1918. However, this is forecast to be the first triple-digit heat to grip the nation’s capital since the summer of 2016.
