📰 Curated from Associated Press
📖 Read full article→Sweltering heat wave grips central and southern US for a second straight day - AP News
A scorching heat wave continues across the central and southern United States, leaving at least 40 million people under extreme heat warnings. Heat indexes exceeding 105 degrees Fahrenheit are expected from Memphis to Montana to Las Vegas. The National Weathe…
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At least 40 million people were under extreme heat warnings across central and southern parts of the United States on Sunday, marking the second consecutive day of high temperatures and severe humidity.
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Heat indexes exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 C) from Minnesota to Mississippi and westward into southern California and Nevada, with parts of the Southwest expected to reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 C), according to the National Weather Service.
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Meteorologists attributed the conditions to a heat dome, an atmospheric phenomenon that traps heat and prolongs high temperatures, with NWS meteorologist Bob Oravec noting the core of the heat would sink southward by early the following week.
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The extreme weather has already broken records, with Rapid City, South Dakota, reaching an all-time high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 C) on Saturday, and a horse race at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota, was canceled Sunday due to the heat.
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In Omaha, Nebraska, homeless services network Threshold CoC distributed water bottles, with outreach manager Pete Miller describing residents as exhausted and drained in dangerous ways amid intense humidity.
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The moist air also raised risks of severe thunderstorms, flash flooding, and hail around the Great Lakes, while authorities warned that children, older adults, and people with certain medical conditions face heightened danger of heat stroke or death; temporary relief was expected by midweek.