Epic heat wave will expand from Midwest to East Coast and could last a week or more

With Thursday’s seasonal solstice occurring amid a weeklong heat wave expected for the East Coast and Midwest, summer 2024 is coming in hot.

Extreme heat was forecast for Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Albany, New York.

Models show the heat could last through Friday and beyond.

“The duration of this heat wave is remarkable and potentially the longest experienced in decades in some locations,” the federal government said. Weather Forecast Center said.

A high-pressure system called an upper-level ridge that sits over the Ohio Valley is expanding across the Midwest and East Coast and will produce clear skies, warm, stable air and record temperatures in the 90s and beyond, forecasters say .

Some areas will experience temperatures as high as 105, according to the weather service. Forecasters say temperatures will reach 25 degrees above normal in many areas under the summer system.

New temperature records could be set from the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes to the northern Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, the weather service said.

The National Weather Service office in Pittsburgh said it “could be the most impactful heat wave of the 21st century.”

Buffalo Public Schools said in a statement that it was implementing half days on four of the five weekdays. The schedule will allow students in pre-K through 8th grade to return home by the end of their lunch period.

The nights will likely provide a little relief, with low temperatures in that quarter of the country reaching the 60s and 70s, they said.

As of Monday morning, the National Weather Service had 71 million Americans under a heat warning or excessive heat watch, as separate sections of the country were also expected to sweat.

On the northwest side of the heat, flash flooding could occur in the Dakotas and Minnesota on Monday, forecasters said. On the southwest side, rain from the Gulf of Mexico was expected in parts of Texas and Louisiana, possibly through Wednesday, they said.

The weather service is also keeping an eye on any possible tropical storms developing in the Gulf, he said.