Extreme heat alerts affected tens of millions of people in the United States on Tuesday, as cities including Chicago broke records earlier this year. a week of sweltering weather.
Midwest States I started baking on Monday in what the National Weather Service called a dangerous, long-lasting heat wave expected to stretch from Iowa to Maine at least through Friday.
Firefighters extinguish a burning outbuilding as the Point Fire spreads along West Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg, Calif., Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
The governor of New York. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday she has activated the National Guard to help in the event of a heat emergency that develops over the next few days.
“This is a time of significant risk, and we are doing our best to ensure that all lives are protected,” Hochul said during a morning press briefing.
Chicago broke a 1957 temperature record on Monday with a high of 97 degrees Fahrenheit (36.1 degrees Celsius). Hot and humid conditions will continue this week with heat indexes near 100 F (37.7 C) at times, the National Weather Service in Chicago said in a post on the social platform.
The heat didn’t stop residents of Chicago’s Grant Park from ordering the hottest dishes on the menu at the food truck where Emmanuel Ramos cooks, WBBM-TV reported.
“They order the hottest stuff on the hottest days,” he said. “They order ramen, corn – they just want everything hot. I don’t know why,” Ramos said. “Right now, something that would be good is smoothies.”
Last year, the United States saw the most heat waves — unusually hot weather lasting more than two days — since 1936. Authorities have warned residents to take precautions.
A woman reaches out while lying in a shaded area with a book in Yards Park, Sunday, June 16, 2024, as temperatures begin to rise in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Much of the Midwest and Northeast were under heat warnings or watcheswith authorities opening cooling centers and urging people to limit outdoor activities when possible and check in with family members and neighbors who may be vulnerable to the heat.
The heat has been particularly dangerous in recent years in Phoenix, where 645 people died of heat-related causes in 2023, which is a record. Temperatures there reached 112 F (44.4 C) on Saturday. Weather service forecasters say the first two weeks of June in Phoenix were the hottest start to the month on record.
A meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix, Ted Whittock, advised reducing time spent outdoors between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., staying hydrated and wearing lighter, looser-fitting clothing. More than 100 cooling centers were opened in the city and surrounding county, including two new ones overnight.
Children cool off at the fountain at Gallagher Way Park on a hot day in Chicago, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
In Southern California, firefighters their content has increased of a large wildfire burning in steep, hard-to-access areas of the mountains north of Los Angeles. But hot, dry and windy weather could hamper their efforts on Tuesday. Wildfires also ravaged New Mexico, causing the evacuation of a village of 7,000 inhabitants.
Warming temperatures come amid growing concern about the effects of extreme heat and smoke from wildfires. The nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity sent a petition to the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Monday asking it to recognize extreme heat and smoke from wildfires as major disasters.
The agency did not immediately release a specific response to the petition. A FEMA spokesperson for western U.S. states said nothing would prevent an extreme heat emergency declaration, but noted there would have to be a threat immediate for life and safety to which local authorities could not respond.
Home plate umpire Carlos Torres cools off during the ninth inning of a baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Sunday, June 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
While much of the United States is sweltering, late-season snow was forecast for the northern Rockies, with parts of Montana and north-central Idaho under a winter storm warning. Up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) was predicted for higher elevations around Glacier National Park.
Meanwhile, a new wave of tropical moisture brought a growing threat of heavy rain and flash flooding to the central Gulf Coast.
Hurricane season this year is expected to be among the most active in recent memory.
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