Andy Pershing said the latest heat dome weather matches what climate models in the 1990s predicted, as a third major heat dome in a month strengthens over the weekend across the US. About 70 million people are set to face excessive heat advisories, with the hottest conditions aimed at the south-western US and the Great Plains.
Temperatures of 95-105F are expected across much of the affected area, and parts of the south-western US desert could reach 120F. The elevated heat is expected to linger into the coming week.
Andy Pershing and Climate Central
Pershing, the chief program officer at Climate Central, said, "We are experiencing exactly what the climate models in the 1990s said we should experience now," and added, "That is, more frequent, more severe heatwaves, bigger temperature anomalies, more humidity, higher overnight temperatures." Heatwaves are not new to American summers, but the scale and persistence of this one fit the pattern he described.
The heat dome spans a vast swathe of the country from the Gulf of Mexico coast to the Great Plains and the midwest. The National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning for western Nebraska, where weekend temperatures are forecast to reach 108F.
Denver and western Nebraska
The latest heat dome could also break records in the Denver area, adding another local target for readers tracking daily forecasts. The practical issue for people in the warning zone is duration: the hottest conditions are not a one-day spike, but a stretch that carries into the coming week.
Heat is the deadliest weather phenomenon in the US, and older people, pregnant people, young children and people with existing health conditions are particularly vulnerable. For anyone in the affected region, that means planning around prolonged daytime heat and limited overnight relief, especially where temperatures stay high after sunset.
From early July to now
The current event follows a huge heat dome in early July that caused some Independence Day events to be canceled in the east of the country. Another heatwave then hit further west, bringing 115F heat in Montana and pushing temperature records higher. This third system is now building on top of those two earlier bursts.
That sequence matters for readers because it shows the pattern is not isolated. The current advisories cover about 70 million people now, and the open question is how long the excessive heat advisories will remain in effect across the affected US regions as the elevated heat settles in.
