A record heat wave is engulfing at least four Western states this week, with temperatures topping 100 degrees in California, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada and Utah.
In California’s Central Valley alone, temperatures are expected to run 15 to 20 degrees above normal, CNN reported, and heat alerts have been issued for 15 million people across the region. Similar temperature warnings held for Northern California as well, CNN said, citing Sacramento’s National Weather Service office.
The scorching temperatures are forecast to descend on Tuesday, ABC News reported, with temperatures expected to hit 107 degrees in Bakersfield, California; 105 degrees in Las Vegas; 104 degrees in Medford, Oregon; and 104 degrees in Phoenix.
The heat wave comes in tandem with heightened fire danger for California and Oregon, ABC News noted. In California the snow has been melting earlier than usual, which will make for drier-than-usual vegetation susceptible to combustion.
Texas, Missouri and two other states were having the opposite problem, with heavy rains bringing the threat of flooding, ABC News said. The storm is expected to hit the Northeast later this week.
The changes were all connected to the jet stream, which is “bulging northward into western Canada,” Weather.com reported late last week, predicting the Memorial Day Weekend temperature surge that would “amplify into a full-blown heat wave” and noting that it would “likely lead to an increased fire danger.”
