The blistering holiday heatwave will bake more than 250 million Americans across the Midwest and East Coast – with scorching temperatures and suffocating humidity threatening at least 36 states.
Heat advisories and excessive heat warnings have been issued in three dozen states as a dangerous heat dome grips much of the country – with temperatures soaring into the high 90s and 100s and feeling over 100 degrees through the Independence Day weekend.
“More than 250 million people will be impacted by this heat wave,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Carl Erickson told The Post.
“It’s encompassing entire states. Thursday and Friday will mark the peak of the heat dome on the East Coast. Parts of the Southeast will also have uncomfortable and potentially dangerous heat and humidity … but many of those areas are used to dealing with those temperatures.”
Erickson said the worst of the days-long swelter will hammer the Ohio Valley, Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, New York City, St. Louis, Memphis and the I-95 corridor through Boston.
Erickson also urged residents from Missouri to Alabama and Mississippi to also exercise extreme caution as the relentless heat bears down.
On Thursday, the heat index is set to rocket to a dangerous 111 degrees in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, 110 in Nashville, 108 in Detroit, 106 in Boston and 102 in Chicago, ABC News reported.
Temperatures on Friday will feel like a grueling 108 degrees in New York, 105 in Boston, 112 in DC, and 111 in Memphis, according to the outlet.
The worst of the heat and humidity will settle over the Southeast by Sunday and Monday, with parts of North Carolina expected to feel like a scorching 107 degrees and Georgia about 105, ABC News reported.
The sweltering stretch will finally begin to crack on Sunday in the Northeast — but not before heavy thunderstorms hammer the region from the Big Apple to the nation’s capital starting Friday night and raging through the holiday weekend as the heat and humidity lingers.
“The heat wave will break down across the northeast and Mid-Atlantic early next week,” Erickson said.
“New York City itself will see highs closer to the 80s – which will be a big difference from where it is now.”
In the Big Apple, temperatures are expected to ease slightly on Saturday with a high of 95 and conditions set to spark heavy afternoon thunderstorms, with a 55% chance of rain.
Sunday would be the last day of the heatwave with highs of 90 degrees, with storms forecasted to bring temperatures back down to normal by Monday.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has declared a heat emergency due to the weather and Gov. Kathy Hochul said officials are monitoring the heat and the state’s electrical grid.
