Amid reports of hazardous weather that has ignited new wildfires, more than 146 million Americans have been placed under excessive heat alerts.
Four people have died in Oregon as a result of the extreme heat wave, which has broken temperature records throughout the western United States, according to The Guardian newspaper.
This past Sunday, Salem recorded 103F, or 39.4C, shattering the previous record of 99F, or 37.2C, which had been set in 1960.
Four people’s deaths in Multnomah County are being investigated by authorities on suspicion of heat-related causes, as reported by The Guardian.
On the west coast, portions of Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho are under an excessive heat warning from the National Weather Service; on the east coast, portions of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi are under a heat alert.
As a result of the record-breaking temperatures, firefighters are fighting an extensive number of new fires. Nearly half a million acres were engulfed in flames by 73 massive active fires throughout the US as of Monday.
The weather is predicted to be fire-prone all week long.
According to NBC News, a wildfire in Santa Barbara County, California, has burned more than 20,000 acres and is now just eight percent controlled. The fire has also prompted evacuation orders in the vicinity.
According to NBC News, the fire began near Lake Zaca shortly before 4 p.m. on Friday and continued to grow over the weekend.
The fire has persisted in spreading, even though air tankers and helicopters have been sent to tackle it.
The fire is expected to continue expanding south and southeast according to officials, as a result of increasing heat, wind, and dry grass.
According to CNN, more daily record high temperatures are expected in Nevada and California in the upcoming week.
By Thursday, the heat from the Pacific Northwest will shift to the Intermountain West and northern High Plains, according to the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Centre.
There have been several reports of record-breaking heat in recent days, particularly in the Western and Pacific Northwest regions. CNN reports that over 165 daily high temperature records might be set or equaled this week.
The Washington Post stated that while Central and Southern California are expected to see the most severe heat in the next several days, Washington state, Idaho, and Utah should all expect extremely high temperatures.
Despite a possible brief cooling off of temperatures across the West by Sunday, the newspaper said that the general weather pattern is not expected to undergo any major changes.
(Source: AA)
