Most of the West will experience temperatures 20 degrees or more above average this week.
There are excessive heat warnings for more than 17 million people in California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona starting Tuesday, with the hottest days predicted to be Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, CNN reported.
What is a heat dome?
Extreme temperatures are soaring because of a heat dome, which is “a large area of high pressure that parks over an area, traps air and heats it with abundant sunshine for days or weeks,” according to CNN. “The resulting heat becomes more intense the longer a heat dome lasts.”
The heat dome is moving north, as it already impacted Mexico in May, causing power outages, drought and killing at least 48 people, The New York Times reported. “Howler monkeys have fallen dead from trees because of the heat.”
Much of California, southern Nevada, southern Utah and a large portion of Arizona expect punishing temperatures of 100 to 110 degrees, with 120-degree temperatures possible “in the most extreme cases,” per The Washington Post.
Death Valley, California, could reach a high of 124 degrees by the end of the week, “a record warm temperature for this early in the year,” according to USA Today.
What to do during the heat wave
Experts advise people to be on the watch for the extreme heat and to avoid going outdoors, if possible. They also say to drink more water than normal and to find air-conditioned buildings to stay in during this week.
“Extreme heat is an invisible but dangerous consequence of climate change, and California’s outdoor workers, seniors and children are particularly vulnerable,” the California Environmental Protection Agency posted on X.
The Times reported that “in the wake of the disastrous heat, the Maricopa Association of Governments, a regional planning agency, published a guide to a network of public, air-conditioned buildings known as cooling and respite centers on a map that also shows the locations of drinking water fountains.”
Wildfires rage in California
Wildfires have already struck California, with hundreds of emergency responders dispatched since Monday to battle a 14,000-acre wildfire east of San Francisco, USA Today reported.
The fires prompted evacuation orders and have already injured two firefighters, per USA Today.