Life-threatening heat wave hits large parts of US as Detroit sees highest temps in 20 years

A life-threatening heat wave is sending temperatures soaring above 90F (32C) across the midwest and northeast from Tuesday.

The Detroit metro area will experience its worst heat wave in 20 years or more as an atmospheric heat dome settles over much of the country, impacting countless metro areas including New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Washington, DC.

Some 270 million people will be impacted this week. The high temperatures, which began on Sunday, could linger through early next week, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). “The duration of this heat wave is notable and potentially the longest experienced in decades for some locations,” the NWS said.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is expected to be one of those places, with forecasters predicting the city will beat its previous six-day, heat wave record set in 1994. The area is expected to hit the mid-90s while the heat index — how the temperature feels to the human body — climbs to 110F (43C).

Meanwhile, New York City will see its first heat wave since September as temperatures reach above 90F beginning Thursday.

Meanwhile, upstate New York is under a heat advisory until Thursday evening with the heat index forecasted to hit or surpass 100F, the NWS forecasts. Governor Kathy Hochul activated the National Guard on Tuesday to assist with heat-related emergencies.

The Washington, DC area will also approach temperatures near 100F (37C) and a heat index of 103F (39C).

In the midwest, western Illinois will also be hit with a heat index 100F on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Chicago, Illinois broke a 1957 temperature record on Monday with a high of 97F (36C).

Heat waves can be life-threatening especially for young children, the elderly, outdoor workers and homeless populations. The Department of Health and Human Services reports more than 2,300 people died of heat-related deaths in the US in 2023, the highest number recorded in 45 years.

The climate crisis is driving more extreme and frequent heatwaves around the world including in the US. Scientists say there is a “strong chance” that 2024 will be the hottest year on record at a global level due to the climate crisis, following the record-setting 2023.

While the east melts under dangerous heat, the western US is battling dangerous wildfires.

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than a dozen large fires are raging through California, according to Cal Fire, with six posing major threats.

The Post Fire, the largest burning in the state, has already scorched through some 15,000 acres near Los Angeles and is 24 per cent contained.

High winds in the region are fanning the flames and more than 1,000 people were forced to evacuate from a nearby camping area, Cal Fire officials said.

The Sites Fire is burning another 10,000 acres in northern California at zero percent containment.

In southern New Mexico, thousands in and around the Village of Ruidoso were forced to evacuate Monday as the raging South Fork Fire burned through more than 13,000 acres after it began that morning. The blaze is burning on Mescalero Tribal Land and federal land, Ruidoso News reports.

Mescalero Apache Reservation leaders have since declared a state of emergency in response to the blaze.

Firefighters have yet to contain the fire as of Tuesday morning.

“We were getting ready to sit down to a meal and the alert came on: ‘Evacuate now, don’t take anything or plan to pack anything, just evacuate,’” resident Mary Lou Minic told local outlet KOB-TV. “And within three to five minutes, we were in the car, leaving.”

Since the blazes began, the Red Cross has reported 270 individuals checked in to shelters in Roswell, and 120 in Capitan, according to New Mexico fire agencies.

Federal officials have been watching Ruidoso for decades after the Federal Emergency Management Agency designated the village as a high-risk area in 2000, citing the surrounding dense forests that could serve as fuel.

The smaller Salt Fire is also burning nearby Ruidoso, scorching the Mescalero Apache Reservation in Otero County, New Mexico, the Ruidoso News reports.