When will it end?
The country is running headlong into the final days of what’s expected to be the hottest month on record with millions suffering through scorching weather that has been baking much of the country.
There could be some relief by Sunday, forecasters say, and more early next week. It depends in large part on where you live.
A dip in the jet stream is expected to bring relief and cap off the “brief but impactful” heat wave in the Midwest and East, bringing thunderstorms – and some relief from the heat, AccuWeather chief meteorologist Jonathan Porter told USA TODAY. The National Weather Service said a cold front will bring more comfortable temperatures in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic and Midwest on Sunday and early next week.
In the meantime, though, wide swaths of the country are expected to reach peak heat wave. The persistent scorching temperatures that covered much of the Southwest has expanded to the Midwest and Northeastern United States, driving temperatures up well into the high 90s with humidity making it feel like triple digits many places.
“I’ve been drinking tons and tons of water,” said Elisa Aiello, perched in the cool air conditioning at Uncle Nancy’s Coffeehouse and Eatery in Newton, Iowa, where riders were gathering Thursday amid an annual bike ride. She told the Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network, the heat was “nothing” compared to her home state of Texas, but she was still taking it seriously. “I stop when it’s necessary and just find shade, relax,” she said. “When there’s a building, like in this little coffee shop, I just sit and enjoy the atmosphere and cool down a little bit.”
“Dangerous” heat will cover much of the eastern half of the country this weekend, the National Weather Service warned. Parts of the Midwest, including St. Louis, Kansas City and southern Illinois will see their overnight low temperatures remain above 80 degrees Friday and Saturday, offering little relief from the daytime heat.
“Some locations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic can expect their hottest temperatures so far in 2023,” the weather service said.
In Pueblo, Colorado, where it’s hit over 100 degrees in recent days, the city’s homeless residents are struggling to stay safe in the dangerous weather, scrambling for shelter and water. Gina Romero told the Pueblo Chieftain, part of the USA TODAY Network, it’s been “miserable.”
“You can’t breathe because you feel suffocated,” Romero said. “I try to stay covered and I keep wetting myself (with water), but it seems like you just get hotter and hotter.”
Friday will be the peak of the heat wave many places
Heat alerts have been in place since Wednesday or Thursday across much of the eastern half of the country, but Friday will likely be the peak of this heat wave for many.
Over 53 million Americans were under excessive heat warnings Friday across much of the Midwest, pockets of the mid-Atlantic and parts of Arizona and Southern California. Another 127 million Americans were under heat advisories across the Midwest and East.
The nation’s capital is forecasted to reach 101 degrees Friday with a heat index up to 111. The high in Chicago on Friday is expected to be near 94 degrees with a heat index of 105. Philadelphia could reach 97 degrees but feel closer to 107.
Temperature lets up in Arizona amid monsoon storm
It’s still hot in the Phoenix area, but the first monsoon storm of the season has allowed for a slight dip in high temperatures that have been battering residents for weeks. The city recorded a drop below 90 degrees at night for the first time in 16 days late this week, and a Wednesday night storm ripped roofs off manufactured homes in Mesa.
As the heat dome has shifted east, it allowed the monsoonal moisture to return to Phoenix and other parts of the southwest, where more thunderstorms limit the intensity of the heat.
“(M)oisture moving into the Southwestern portion of the country has reduced the areal coverage of the Excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories to the southernmost counties of California and parts of Southern Arizona,” the National Weather Service said.
Porter said the heat wave in Phoenix has been the “most intense” recorded since records began in 1895, according to the AccuWeather HeatWave Counter and Severity Index.
BAMBOO MATS, ICE, PASTA BANS:How people around the world are dealing with extreme heat
When will the heat wave end?
It depends on where you are, Porter said. AccuWeather predicts the current waves to to end:
- New York City: Saturday
- Philadelphia: Saturday
- Washington, D.C.: Saturday
- Chicago: Saturday
- Houston: New heat wave expected to start Sunday and continue through early August.
- Los Angeles: Saturday
- Interior Southern California: Most extreme heat is likely to end by Sunday.
Contributing: The Associated Press
