Millions of Americans remained under heat warnings Wednesday after days of record-breaking temperatures, but the scorching weather isn’t expected to last too much longer.
People have been feeling the heat across the East Coast and other regions this week as a heat dome covered much of the country. A heat dome occurs when a large area of high pressure in the atmosphere traps heat and humidity.
Nearly 40 cities broke heat records Monday, including Philadelphia, with temperatures of 99 degrees; Baltimore, with temperatures of 104 degrees and Raleigh, North Carolina, with temperatures of 100 degrees.
On Tuesday, temperatures climbed to the triple digits in cities including Boston and New York, with John F Kennedy International Airport recording 100-degree weather for the first time since 2013.
Temperatures remained in the 90s to the low 100s Wednesday, leaving 125 million Americans from the Mississippi Valley to the East Coast under some kind of heat alert, according toThe Washington Post.
People in parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina are feeling the brunt of the heat.
The regions were under heat warnings, which are issued for “extremely dangerous” heat conditions, as of late Wednesday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
All of Delaware was also under a heat warning, as was a small area in northeastern Kentucky. Other states along the Mississippi River, in the Deep South, and in New England were under heat advisories Wednesday. Heat advisories are less severe than heat warnings.
The heat dome is expected to become less intense by Thursday.
CBS News forecasts temperatures in Boston that are in the low 90s today will cool down to a high of 71 degrees tomorrow.
New York, which is experiencing a high of 92 degrees today, will see temperatures in the high 70s tomorrow. Raleigh will also see some relief, slightly dipping from a high of 101 degrees today to a high of 96 degrees tomorrow.
Heatwaves over the past few days have led to some health concerns for Americans.
An Amtrak train got stuck in a Baltimore tunnel for over an hour Monday, leaving passengers without air conditioning or electricity, per FOX 5 DC.
In New Hampshire, two teen hikers were rescued from a mountain in Jaffrey on Monday after being overcome by the heat, according to state wildlife officials.
