“A oppressive and extremely dangerous heat wave is expected to hit the West this weekend, as well as some places in the South”, warns the National Weather Service (NWS) in a bulletin this Saturday, July 15. “Multiple temperature records are likely and air quality issues will be common in many parts of the United States,” the NWS said. And respite isn’t expected to come anytime soon for the more than 90 million Americans under a high temperature alert, as the heat dome is expected to “remain stationed over (these regions) for the next few days. “, predicts the NWS.
In Phoenix, a metropolis of Arizona in the south-west of the United States, 47 ° C are expected at the end of the afternoon for what should be the 16th consecutive day of maximum above 43 ° C. Part of the state is in magenta alert level, a “rare and/or long-lasting extreme heat level” that represents the highest alert level in the NWS. During this week-long period, 89 major cities are expected to experience dangerous heat levels on one or more days from Saturday, as shown an infographic of New York Times, based on NWS data. Up to 100 heat records could fall throughout the weekend as it intensifies, piling on the more than 1,000 high temperature records broken in the United States since June.
Over 50°C in California
In southern California, firefighters have been fighting several very violent fires since Friday which have ravaged more than 1,214 hectares and led to the evacuation of the population. For climatologist Daniel Swain of the University of California, Los Angeles, the mercury in Death Valley could equal or even exceed the highest air temperature ever reliably measured on Earth, at 54.4°. C registered in the same place in 2020 and 2021.
Other regions of the United States are at risk of severe weather. “Strong to severe thunderstorms, heavy rain and flooding are possible in many places, particularly and unfortunately in New England, already saturated” by recent rainfall, according to the NWS. This region of the northeast of the country, and particularly the state of Vermont, was affected this week by “historic and catastrophic” floods, the result of torrential rains.
In Canada, the number of fires continues to increase, particularly in the west of the country, where in a few days several hundred fire starts have been recorded, mainly triggered by thunderstorms. More than 10 million hectares have already gone up in smoke across the country, a figure well above anything the country has ever seen and which will continue to increase in the coming weeks, according to government data. published on Saturday. And the situation is not going to improve with “hot and dry weather expected in the coming months”, Sarah Budd of the BCWS told AFP: “We do not expect any respite from the weather”.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, “heat waves are occurring more frequently than before in major cities across the United States.” “Their frequency has increased continuously, from an average of two heat waves per year during the 1960s to six per year during the 2010s and 2020s,” she said.