United States authorities have issued extreme warnings as 120 million Americans are at risk of experiencing triple-digit temperatures through the weekend.
Officials placed hundreds of millions of residents under various heat alerts on Thursday in more than two dozen states from parts of the American West to New England. Experts believe that the situation will become increasingly common due to the effects of climate change worldwide.
Extreme Heat Warnings
In a statement on Wednesday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said that widespread high temperatures in the mid-to-upper 90s and low 100s were expected to hit a majority of the country on Thursday and Friday.
The regions that are at most risks for the dangerously hot temperatures span the Southwest, central and the south-central U.S. along with the coastal mid-Atlantic region and the Northeast. In Dallas County, Texas, authorities reported their first heat-related death of the year.
The case was that of a 66-year-old woman that a Thursday news release from the Dallas County Health and Human Services announced. The agency did not identify the woman but noted that she had underlying health conditions, as per CNN.
The ominous heat wave, which has exacerbated a flash drought experienced in the southern and central Plains, has pushed state and local leaders to issue heat emergencies and offer resources to residents to mitigate the blistering hot temperatures.
On Thursday, the mayor of Washington, D.C., Muriel Bowser, announced a heat emergency that will last until Monday morning. Typically, the district announces such an emergency when officials observe a temperature of 95 Fahrenheit degrees or higher.
According to the Washington Post, authorities expect roughly 60 million Americans in at least 16 states to experience triple-digit temperatures on Thursday. Roughly a half-dozen states could observe temperatures in the upper 90s.
Dangerous Temperatures
The excessive-heat warnings or heat advisories cover several regions in the U.S., including California's Central Valley, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Antonio, Birmingham, Myrtle Beach, and Boston. Texas and Oklahoma have regions that are experiencing one of their hottest summers on record, with temperatures well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
The two states observed a peak of 115 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday and despite lower temperatures on Thursday, they are still dangerous for vulnerable groups. Many major cities in the Northeast will experience highs near 95 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday and will feel it as five to 10 degrees hotter with suffocating humidity levels.
The recent heat wave in the U.S. has set at least 60 records and peaked this week as a historic bout of exceptional temperatures killed more than 1,000 people in Europe. On Tuesday, Britain set a record-high temperature as several stations exceeded 104 degrees Fahrenheit for the first time ever.
Emergency medical services in Tulsa, Oklahoma, have noted that there was an increase in heat-related emergency calls this year. In a statement, the city's Emergency Medical Services Authority said that it has received nearly 250 calls this year, a number that the agency typically reaches later in the summer season, The Guardian reported.
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