What to expect as a punishing heat wave shifts East

A heat wave that broke dozens of temperature records across the American Southwest is shifting to more of the country this weekend, with heat peaking in the Northeast early next week.

Some East Coast cities, including Baltimore and Washington, D.C., will experience temperatures reaching up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. That will not necessarily break records, as Las Vegas and many other Western cities did last week. But it can still be dangerous.

“What we want people to be prepared for is the hot daytime temperatures, and the temperatures that don’t really cool off that much at night,” said Richard Bann, a meteorologist at the weather service. That can be especially stressful for people who don’t have a good way to keep cool or aren’t staying hydrated, he said.

Here’s the forecast for each part of the country into early next week:

The West Gets a Brief Respite: More than 50 cities across California and Nevada broke heat records last week — including the hottest temperature ever recorded in Las Vegas, which reached 120 degrees.

Officials suspect heat to be the cause of more than 100 deaths reported in the West this month, though each requires an investigation, and the cause of each death could take months to determine.

After the oppressive temperatures, the region can expect a minor break starting late Saturday. High temperatures in Las Vegas will drop back to a more typical 110 or so, while Salt Lake City will experience highs in the 90s early next week, with overnight temperatures dropping into the 70s.

A Hot Weekend for the Nation’s Middle: While the West gets a breather, the Midwest will heat up. Temperatures are expected to hover around the low 90s in Minneapolis over the weekend, and St. Louis is expected to hit 98 degrees Sunday.

Chicago is forecast to reach a high of 94 Monday, while Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention will be held next week, will be around 90 before cooling off slightly Tuesday.

In Texas, despite a cooling of a few degrees in the Houston area, the power outages caused by Hurricane Beryl continue to make things miserable and even dangerous. More than 500,000 customers remained without power Saturday afternoon.

Speaking at a news conference Friday, Houston Mayor John Whitmore said he had told the city’s power provider, CenterPoint Energy, that “right now, the focus is: Get the lights on.”

Three deaths in the aftermath of Beryl have been attributed to the heat, according to officials in Harris County, which includes Houston.

Temperatures will be around 100 in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, when Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game is played there — even around the first pitch, which is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Near Triple Digits in the Northeast: Tuesday will likely be the hottest day in the Northeast, with the heat index — a measure of how humidity and other factors, along with the temperature, affect the way people experience heat — topping 100 in some places.

New York City’s temperature is expected to peak in the mid-90s Tuesday, with the heat index reaching 95 to 100 Monday through Wednesday. Forecasters at the local weather service office in New York say that some spots around the city could approach a heat index of 105 degrees.

Nearby Newark, New Jersey, will be several degrees warmer, in the upper 90s Tuesday. Farther down the East Coast, Philadelphia will also be in the upper 90s, and Washington could top 100.

© 2024 The New York Times Company