PHOENIX — Extreme temperatures are expected this week in the United States. Authorities have warned residents in the southwest to take precautions as a heat wave moves east, while heavy rain and flooding could inundate Gulf states and snow threatens parts of the Rocky Mountains and the Northwest.
Extreme heat spread across Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Texas, Colorado and Kansas. severe weather It swept across many parts of the United States on Sunday. There was unseasonably cold weather in the Pacific Northwest, snow was moving northward from the Rocky Mountains, and heavy rain was forecast from the Northern Plains to the Upper Midwest.
The National Weather Service estimated More than 63 million people were under heat advisories Sunday, stretching from the southwest to the north through Denver and Chicago.
Temperatures in Phoenix, which reached 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 Celsius) on Saturday, decreased slightly on Sunday to 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius). Weather service forecasters say the first two weeks of June in Phoenix have already been an average of 5.6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal, making it the warmest start to June on record.
“We’ve already seen some pretty high temperatures in our area,” said Ted Whittock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix. “We recommend everyone reduce the time they spend outdoors between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., stay hydrated and wear light, loose-fitting clothing. »
Heat in the Phoenix metro area will ease a bit Monday through Wednesday, with highs returning as the week progresses, likely prompting another excessive heat warning, Whittock said.
The heat has been particularly dangerous in recent years in the Phoenix metro area, where 645 people died of heat-related causes in 2023, which is a record.
The City and County of Maricopa have adopted additional measures this year in hopes of keeping people safer, including two new nighttime cooling centers where people can rest in air conditioning after the sun sets. There are more than 100 other cooling centers open since May 1, where people can get cold water and sit in a cool space during the day.
In neighboring New Mexico, a heat advisory was in effect this weekend for the plains of Chavez County, including Roswell, where the high was expected to reach 107 degrees F (41.6 degrees C) on Monday. The high for Albuquerque reached 99 degrees F (37 C) on Sunday and is expected to cool slightly to 98 degrees F (36 C) on Monday. The high Sunday was 104 F (40 C) in El Paso, Texas, which opened five cooling centers.
Temperatures in Colorado ranged from nearly 90 degrees F (32.2 C) in metro areas of Denver on Sunday to 100 degrees F (37.7 C) in the southern city of Pueblo, with temperatures expected to exceed 100 degrees F Monday in the southern part of the state. .
The heat wave was moving eastward Sunday across the Plains and Great Lakes region and is expected to arrive in the Northeast by Tuesday. The threat of thunderstorms with potential high winds and heavy precipitation has increased in the Chicago area, although heat indexes are expected to reach near 100 degrees F (37.7 C) by midweek.
As the heat wave spreads eastward, temperatures in Washington, D.C. and the rest of the Mid-Atlantic, as well as New England, are likely to reach highs in the mid to late into the 90s as the week progresses, with excessive humidity making it even more oppressive.
The United States saw last year the most heat wavesconsisting of abnormally hot weather lasting more than two days, since 1936.
While much of the country is sweltering, late-season snow was forecast for the northern Rockies Monday and Tuesday. Parts of Montana and north-central Idaho were under a winter storm warning, with up to 6 inches of heavy, wet snow expected in the mountains around Missoula, Montana. Up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) was predicted for higher elevations around Glacier National Park.
Meanwhile, a new round of tropical moisture will bring an increasing threat of heavy rain and flash flooding to the central Gulf Coast Sunday through Monday. Heavy rain is expected to begin Monday morning, and moisture will move toward the Gulf Coast by Tuesday.
THE intense flooding Heavy rains continued to dissipate in South Florida, where some areas in and around Miami and Fort Lauderdale were left underwater in recent days as storms dumped up to 20 inches (50 centimeters ).
That unnamed storm system coincided with the early start of hurricane season, which this year is expected to be among the most active in recent memory.