A dangerous heat wave is worsening and there’s no relief in sight.
To underscore just how expansive this heat is, the FOX Forecast Center said about 27 million people across the Lower 48 will experience an air temperature or heat index above 110 over the next week, based on the current forecast.
In total, more than 93 million Americans are baking under life-threatening high temperatures from California to Arizona to Texas to Florida. The potentially deadly heat wave remains parked across the southern and western U.S. as it threatens to break some all-time temperature records.
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It’s caused by a stagnant upper-level high in place over the Southwest and northern Mexico and beginning to build in coverage – particularly in the northwest over the Great Basin and California, the FOX Forecast Center said.
Widespread heat-related advisories and warnings remain in place across the Central and Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley as well as portions of the Desert Southwest and California.
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“This extreme heat will knock several records out of the park as we go through the afternoon today,” FOX Weather meteorologist Jane Minar said. “Phoenix being one of those at 117 degrees.”
Saturday will mark the 16th consecutive day at 110 degrees or higher this summer in Phoenix, Arizona. So far, the average high in July is 113 there, with an overall average temperature of 100.6.
If that stretch seems long, over in El Paso, Texas, it has been nearly a month of nonstop triple-digit heat. Saturday will mark 30 consecutive days with a high temperature at or above 100 degrees, long ago breaking its old record of 23 days set in 1994.
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The chance of seeing all-time record heat is not stopping tourists from visiting one of the hottest plays on Earth – Death Valley National Park. Park staff told FOX Weather that the site is surprisingly busy during the summer, with around 110,000 people that visit the desert location every July.
The FOX Forecast Center expects Death Valley to reach 127 degrees on Sunday and fall just 5 degrees short of the world record.
“This is just one model run,” Minar said. “There’s been a few model runs that have taken us into the 130 territory. I think the highest I saw was 131. So it is going to be one for us to watch.”
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While the Southwest hits unbelievable highs, down in Florida, it’s the humidity, too.
The Sunshine State has been baking in above-average temperatures for weeks. Only there, and unlike the Desert Southwest, high humidity is adding to the woes.
A broad region of tropical moisture is streaming into the Sunshine State and is expected to increase the overall coverage of thunderstorms into the weekend.
The FOX Forecast Center said these thunderstorms are likely to begin in the afternoon, coinciding with peak heating of the day, as that is when instability for storms will be greatest. Outside of the storm threat, sweltering heat is expected to continue, as muggy conditions send heat index values soaring.
Expect heat index values to top out near 110 degrees in places that don’t see afternoon thunderstorms, the FOX Forecast Center said.
Miami will once again feel the heat Saturday with an afternoon high of 91 degrees, but it will feel like 108 degrees due to the humidity. Along with much of South Florida, a Heat Advisory remains in effect for Miami through the weekend.