The US National Weather Service (NWS) issued heat alerts for more than 112 million people in 15 states on Thursday, covering roughly a third of the United States population.
The heat wave is likely to break long-held records in multiple cities, including Phoenix, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada. The primary driver of the heat is a high pressure aloft, often called a heat dome, which is settling in place over the Southwest but will affect a much larger area of the United States.
The NWS has stated that in the Southwest, there is no end in sight for the heat wave.
“Unfortunately, the long term outlook for the [Southwest] region shows a continued heat wave through this weekend and into next week," the NWS said.
Alerts are in place for nearly all of Texas, California, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada and Arizona. Southern Florida is also under a heat advisory warning.
Some concerning records are in danger of falling. Phoenix is on track to break or tie its record of 18 straight days at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3C) and may also break 120F (48.8C), only the fourth time since the city started keeping reliable records in the 1920s. The city’s all-time high of 122F (50C) is also at risk of falling.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas may break its record of 117F (47.2C) as the NWS warns the city is entering a period of “extreme” heat risk.
Death Valley, which already holds the title for the hottest place on Earth, is expected to reach between 129 and 132F (53.8 - 55.5C) The area holds the distinction of recording the hottest air on Earth when it reached 134.1F (56.7C) in 1913.
Residents in the Gulf states may also be disappointed to learn that the ocean waters will not provide much relief from the heat. Temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico this month have been in the mid-to-upper 90s. Normally, Gulf temperatures hover in the 80s during this time of year.
Heat waves are not expected to become less frequent anytime soon. El Niño, the heating phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), is expected to continue through the winter and into 2024.
Combined with human-made climate change, it is expected to push global temperatures into previously uncharted territory. Scientists have also predicted that extreme El Niño and La Nina (the cooling phase of the ENSO) events will increase through the 21st century, from one every 20 years to one every decade.