Millions across the Midwest and Northeast are suffering through severe weather, with three dead in North Dakota after intense winds and tornadoes, and a ‘heat dome’ coming with extreme temperatures early next week.
Cass County Sheriff Jesse Jahner announced Saturday that two men and a woman were killed overnight at two locations near the town of Enderlin, North Dakota as the area was hit by a tornado.
It has been a rough weather week for the East Coast; not only has a line of storms battered the region, but an extreme heat wave is cooking about half the continental U.S., and it’s only going to get worse.
More than 150 million Americans — mostly living in the eastern half of the U.S. — were placed under a heat advisory this week.
The Weather Prediction Center has described the coming high temperatures as a “significant and extremely dangerous heat wave.”
Temperatures on Saturday are expected to hit or exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit in some parts of the eastern U.S., with temps reaching triple digits in parts of Nebraska and southwestern Minnesota. Meteorologists expect the heat wave to last several days and continue pushing east.
On Sunday, the most extreme temperatures will push east toward Lake Michigan and Chicago, and then continue toward the coast for the start of next week.
Major east coast cities like New York City and Washington, D.C. are expected to have five to seven consecutive days of 90 degrees and higher temperatures at the start of next week. On Tuesday, Washington, D.C. is expected to see a high of nearly 100 degrees, and New York City will be right behind with a high of around 96 degrees in Central Park.
The massive heat wave is actually a “heat dome,” which occurs when a large area of high pressure in the upper atmosphere acts as a reservoir that traps heat and humidity, according to Ricky Castro, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Illinois.
The combination of high heat and pressure is sometimes called a “ring of fire,” according to the Weather Prediction Center.
Moisture blowing northward from the Gulf of Mexico is fueling the humid weather, according to Jacob Asherman, a Weather Prediction Center meteorologist. The introduction of Gulf moisture to continental U.S. is not unusual, Asherman said.
The high humidity means there will be little relief from the heat at night, according to Alex Lamers, a forecaster at the Weather Prediction Center.
“Things like cooler nights and stronger breezes are a natural way of providing heat relief. When these don’t exist, heat can become very dangerous for anyone who does not limit or break their exposure by seeking out an air-conditioned building or some other form of relief,” Lamers told the New York Times.
The heat wave may also bring severe thunderstorms to the northeast, including New York City, as well as some areas along the Gulf Coast in the south.
The high temperatures will eventually break, but not until the middle of next week at the earliest.
It’s important to take caution during extreme weather events. Staying hydrated and limiting exposure to the outdoors — ideally in air conditioned or otherwise cool rooms — is ideal. Certain medications like blood pressure pills can actually make people more susceptible to the heat, so it’s a good idea for anyone using regular medication to check the side effects.
