As the country continues to feel the wrath of extreme weather, millions across the upper Midwest and Northeast are experiencing a sweltering heatwave, while a tropical storm drenched Texas and northern Mexico. The National Weather Service forecasts peak temperatures in the eastern Great Lakes, New England, the Ohio Valley, and mid-Atlantic over the coming weekend, warning of widespread daily record highs and associated thunderstorms.
“Widespread daily record high temperatures are likely. Heavy to excessive rainfall will be associated with thunderstorms forecast to move across parts of the northern Plains and Upper Midwest,” the agency said in a weather advisory on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a tropical cyclone forming in the Gulf of Mexico, named Alberto, is expected to bring heavy rain, flooding threats, and gusty winds to south Texas, but “gradually decrease” as it makes landfall in Mexico and dissipates.
In New York City, an air-quality alert was issued as an early season heatwave continues to take its toll on residents. Tempting the 92F mark on Thursday, with RealFeels reaching nearly 100F. Conditions are expected to ease over the weekend.
In New Mexico, where a wildfire ravaged the village of Ruidoso in the southern part of the state on Tuesday, killing two and destroying 1,400 buildings, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has asked the White House to declare two fires a major disaster.
In Caribou, Maine, which has become a meteorological hotspot due to its northerly US location, high temperatures records were tied on Wednesday, matching a record set in 2020 when the thermometer reached 96F. Bangor, Maine, also tied its record with a high of 95F, with an all-time high of 104F set in 1935.
The soaring temperatures are attributed to meandering fluctuations in the jet stream, which can allow heat domes, or persistent regions of high-pressure over an area. “When these meanders in the jet stream become bigger, they move slower and can become stationary. That’s when heat domes can occur,” explains William Gallus, a professor of meteorology at Iowa State University.
North East and Midwest US Heatwave1Historically, heat domes have been blamed for a record 739 deaths over five days in Chicago in 1995; the US southern plains heatwave of 1980 when 10,000 people died; for record temperatures in Phoenix, Arizona, last summer; and for the US Dust Bowl in the 1930s.
Brett Anderson, a climate expert and senior meteorologist with AccuWeather, notes that a massive and persistent ridge of high pressure in the atmosphere has been covering much of Mexico since early March. This has prevented most cold fronts from reaching the northern part of the country during the spring, allowing tremendous amounts of heat to build up over the past three months.
Anderson attributes the high heat to climate change, stating that the warming effect of human activities is likely contributing to the extreme temperatures. He also notes that the country is coming off a moderate to strong El Niño, which typically has a warming influence on global temperatures. However, he warns that 2025 is likely to be one of the hottest years on record due to global warming.
As the nation continues to grapple with the consequences of extreme weather, it is clear that climate change is playing a significant role in the scorching heatwave and wildfires that are sweeping across the country.