A barrage of heatwaves have plagued the U.S. this summer and more above-average temperatures are on the way next week, affecting more of the country than those before it.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast (NOAA), the epicenter of the massive heat dome will settle across the northern and central Plains but reach from coast to coast.
While the northern and central plains have not suffered through day-after-day of relentless heat over the past few months, the elevated temperatures will spread to the Great Plains, the Great Lakes, the northern reaches of the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific north-west, and California.
The Dakotas and Montana, a state in which the city of Billings has already experienced 12 days above 95F (35C) this month, can expect temperatures to reach above 100F (37C), according to The Guardian.
“It may come as a surprise but this Sunday (7/25) is the only day in July where the record high in Billings is less than 100°. The current forecast is 99° with a 50% chance of temperatures reaching 100°,” according to the National Weather Service office in Billings, Montana.
Areas of states including Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma may get “sweltering” temperatures reaching 110F (43C), NOAA said, while cities such as Des Moines, Minneapolis, and Chicago will get significantly above-average heat, reports CTV News Canada.
By Monday, triple-digit temperatures will hit the western and central US, with highs in the 100s spanning the Great Basin, northern Plains, and southern Plains.
Climate scientists have predicted that human-caused climate change would lead to a barrage of heatwaves, droughts, and extreme weather events, but even they admit to being surprised at the ferocity of the onslaught.
“It’s been a severe and dangerous summer, some of the heatwaves have been devastatingly hot,” said Michael Wehner, a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
“We certainly expected these types of temperatures as global warming continues but I don’t think anyone anticipated they would be so hot right now. I don’t think we could’ve expected so many heatwaves in the same general region in one summer.”
“It’s a teachable moment in many ways for the public that climate change is here and now and dangerous. It isn’t our grandchildren’s problem, it’s our problem. But it’s been a teachable moment for climate scientists too,” Wehner concludes.