The heat dome which parked across much of the southwestern United States in recent days has led to weather warnings being issued to millions of people in Arizona, Nevada, Texas and California.
That it is hot in this area is nothing new, but this season’s heat wave has come unusually early and hard.
This is what the forecast looks like
In California’s notoriously hot Death Valley, the temperature on Thursday was 50 degrees, a record high for this time of year, according to CNN.
Likewise in Las Vegas, where it has never been 44 degrees this early in the summer. Even in the city of millions, Phoenix, the temperature has been 45 degrees.
During the weekend, temperatures are expected to drop slightly, but then the heat wave will make a comeback, according to SVT’s meteorologist Pia Hultgren.
– It looks like a temporary weakening and it looks very warm all next week. It can have devastating consequences for children and the elderly, and many will find it very difficult.
Warmest May ever
EU climate service Copernicus recently determined that the month of May was the warmest ever recorded globally, the twelfth month in a row with heat records.
– You can see an increase in the heat domes. They may appear further north than before and earlier in the season. It has to do with climate change and an increasingly warmer sea, says SVT’s meteorologist Pia Hultgren.
Hear some of those affected by the heat in the video above.