US cities that will be hit hardest by ‘Heat Dome’

HHigh temperatures are forecast this weekend for more than 135 million Americans as a “heat dome” approaches several states. O National Weather Service warned of record high temperatures in parts of the Midwest, Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic, with heat warnings in effect for many areas.

“The worst heat this weekend will occur in a corridor stretching from Kentucky to Tennessee, across parts of West Virginia and Virginia,” said Bob Larson, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. Areas like Boston and Baltimore are expected to see highs in the upper 90s, while Washington D.C. could see a high of around 100 degrees.

Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia will see temperatures above 90 degrees for a week or more, according to AccuWeatherwhich also predicts that daily records dating back to the 1920s will be challenged.

See more information: How to know when the heat is getting dangerous

For many, relief is on the way. Larson says northern regions including Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire saw the peak of the heat wave earlier this week, and that a cold front will bring cooler temperatures as it approaches the Northwest over the weekend.

The upper Midwest – which includes Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Illinois – is expected to see cooling as early as tomorrow, followed by the Great Lakes region – Michigan, Indiana and northern Ohio – on Sunday. While it will still be hot, temperatures will be “much more tolerable” across the Northeast on Monday night, Larson says.

But in some parts of the U.S., high temperatures may be here to stay, says Larson, who notes that AccuWeather’s long-range forecast calls for a “warmer-than-average summer” in the East and Northeast.

And a “seesaw effect” is expected to occur in the coming days: just as temperatures will begin to cool on the East Coast, the West Coast is expected to have a heat wave on the way.

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