By Brendan O’Brien and Rich McKay
(Reuters) – A large swath of the United States will experience dangerously high temperatures on Wednesday – just ahead of the July 4th long weekend – forecasters said, while a fast-moving wildfire in California forced thousands of residents to evacuate their homes.
About 110 million people in 21 Western, Southern Plains and Mid-Atlantic states will spend the holidays under heat-related advisories and warnings. Temperatures are expected to exceed 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coming days, the National Weather Service said.
“It’s very hot; I don’t know how else to say it,” said Jacob Asherman, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland. “We are experiencing unseasonably warm weather across much of the country.”
The scorching weather sets in as the country begins Independence Day weekend, a holiday when many Americans head outdoors for fireworks displays, parades, music festivals and so on.
Portland, Oregon, where conditions are typically mild, was expected to reach 100 F (38 C) on Friday, breaking a record for the date, while in Jackson, Mississippi, known for its hot weather, the temperature was expected to reach 114 F. (46 C), the service said.
When Portland native Jen Scott, a hardware store manager, was a child, “it was a big deal to be 90,” she said. Early July days typically reached the 80s.
“But in recent years it has been getting hotter and hotter. But 100 is crazy,” she said. “We’re not used to this.”
Scott, who runs Pearl Ace Hardware in Portland, said fans and air conditioners are flying off the shelves.
“Remember to stay hydrated, avoid strenuous outdoor activities and make sure neighbors, relatives and pets have a cool place to spend the day,” the weather service’s Jackson office said on the X.
In the Southwest, Phoenix was expected to reach 113 F (45 C) on Wednesday and 116 F (47 C) on Friday, with little relief in sight. Last summer, Arizona’s capital boiled for a record 54 consecutive days when temperatures reached 110 F (43 C) and higher, including 31 consecutive days through July.
The brutal heat, coupled with strong wind gusts and low humidity in Northern California, were particularly challenging for the 500 firefighters battling the so-called Thompson Fire, which broke out on Tuesday morning.
The rampant fire, which burned 2,000 acres (809 hectares) in Butte County and the city of Oroville, forced about 13,000 residents to flee their homes, according to firefighters and media.
Photographs and videos from the area located about 105 kilometers north of Sacramento, the state capital, showed flames destroying structures and setting vehicles on fire.
Smoke from the wildfire and other fires in Northern California was spreading south toward San Francisco, where 7.7 million Bay Area residents were encouraged to limit traffic and not set off fireworks from the sky. 4th of July due to poor air quality.
(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
