A heat dome is expected to re-emerge across the southern US this weekend, affecting many areas that have already endured extreme heat this summer.
The National Weather Service says upcoming weather patterns are expected to bring above-normal temperatures to “nearly all” of the lower 48 states.
The heat will spread across the Central and Southern Plains first, with highs well above 100 degrees on Sunday and Monday. By the start of August, high temperatures above 90 degrees will spread from coast to coast.
On the Weather Service’s heat danger scale of 0 to 4, most of the U.S. is expected to reach at least Level 2 and Level 3 (moderate and severe) by the middle of next week. Many parts of the central states, including Amarillo and Wichita, Texas, and Kansas City, Missouri, are expected to reach Level 4 (extreme).
The heat will increase on Sunday and Monday.
Heat is expected to return to parts of the central and southern U.S. late this weekend and early next week.
The Meteorological Agency said the Central Plains should prepare for the “longest-lasting and most intense” heatwave, with maximum temperatures in the region expected to top 100 degrees, 10 to 15 degrees above normal.
Parts of West Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas are expected to see several days of record-breaking highs of 105 to 110 degrees, with parts of Kansas possibly reaching highs of over 110 degrees by midweek.
Some of the heat will spread into eastern Colorado and New Mexico, where highs in Denver could reach nearly 100 degrees early next week.
The heat wave is expected to be prolonged, with highs reaching 100 to 105 degrees for at least five days in the southern and central plains.
The start of a hot August
The weather service predicts that by the start of August late next week, most of the country will be hotter than normal, except for parts of the Southeast, the Gulf Coast and the West Coast, where temperatures will be near normal.
The Southern and Central Plains are expected to remain the epicenter of heatwaves.
The heatwaves are likely to be most intense in the Western states, where computer models predict a powerful heatwave will take hold in the region by the second week of August. Underneath, drought conditions could intensify and spread, increasing fire danger. Oregon, home to many of the nation’s largest fires, is expected to see an exacerbation of its ongoing drought and little rainfall.
The weather service predicts that August will be a warmer than normal month for most of the country, with especially high odds in the mountain West and Appalachians. Projected temperatures for August will almost certainly make it the hottest summer on record for many areas.
It’s already hot
A potentially sweltering August is coming on the heels of a scorching hot July in which hundreds of heat records were set.
Numerous record high temperatures have been recorded recently from the northern Rocky Mountains to the Northern Plains, with Montana and the Dakotas just recording their hottest temperatures of the year.
Highs neared 110 degrees Wednesday as far north as the Canadian border, with records including 107 degrees in Havre, Montana, and Williston, North Dakota. Temperatures reached 105 degrees in Salt Lake City and 107 degrees in Boise, Idaho.
Thursday’s record high temperatures were somewhat smaller as a cold front moved east, but still reached 109 degrees in Williston, 105 degrees in Rapid City, South Dakota, and 100 degrees in Casper, Wyoming.
The cold front that has stoked massive fires from Alberta, Canada, to Northern California is temporarily pushing back the heat.
But the planet is experiencing some of its hottest days on record and is on track to experience a resurgence of heat intensified by human-made climate change.
