Big Heat Moving East: Records In Central Valley, Phoenix And Vegas Pegged To Fall In Next Few Days

[hatrack]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=&w=691
Forecast highs on Friday from the National Weather Service. Boxed values are records. (WeatherBell)

Temperatures are soaring from Texas to California this week, with readings topping 110 degrees in some areas and an escalating danger of heat-related illnesses. The National Weather Service is calling the heat “dangerous,” “extreme” and “excessive,” warning vulnerable populations to take steps to ensure access to cooling resources.

The heat is predicted to peak on Friday with the potential for dozens of records highs over 100 degrees. Already, temperatures as high as 117 degrees have scorched Texas, while they could top 120 degrees in Death Valley, Calif., on Friday. By early next week, the heat will abate some in parts of the Southwest and Texas, while shifting toward the Southeast. The relief from the heat in the Southwest will come at the cost of increasingly gusty winds, which could bolster the risk of rapid fire spread.

The sizzling temperatures mark the start of the hottest time of year in the Desert Southwest, which usually persists through at least June before the summer monsoon kicks in and sometimes brings cooling clouds and storm chances. In addition to Texas and the Southwest, extreme heat is also forecast to spread into California’s Central Valley from Redding to Bakersfield, which are under excessive-heat watches late this week.

In Texas, several record highs were set on Tuesday, with most extreme heat focused west of Interstate 35, especially southwest of Midland across the Davis Mountains, Marfa Plateau and Big Bend areas. At Rio Grand Village, in Texas’s Big Bend area near the border with Mexico, the mercury surged to 117 degrees, just three degrees below the highest temperature ever observed in the state.

Link to tweet

EDIT

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/06/07/heat-wave-texas-southwest-phoenix/