- Season’s first heat wave has begun and will continue into the start of next week
- Over 30% of the population will experience temps of at least 90 degrees or more
- More than 70 daily heat records may be broken between now and Wednesday from Sunday through Wednesday
- Cities including Atlanta, Nashville, Tennessee, Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Montgomery, Alabama, are set to have multiple days of record heat
The southeastern United States is set to bake under a ‘heat dome’ for the first portion of this week despite summer still being several weeks away.
Almost a third of the country’s population is set to endure temperatures of 90F or higher.
‘Temperatures starting on Monday will run between 10-15 degrees above normal, and border on record maximum temperatures, both for daily highs and lows,’ said Kyle Theim, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Atlanta.
‘The warm, smothering embrace of a high-amplitude ridge will continue into the long term period,’ he told CNN.
Experts believe as many as 70 daily heat records could be broken between Sunday and Wednesday as high-pressure dominates with the cities of Atlanta, Nashville, Tennessee, Baltimore, and Montgomery, Alabama looking to turn up the heat.
Even cities in the northeast including Atlantic City, New Jersey set a new record of 94F over the weekend, breaking the previous record of 91F set nearly 20 years ago.
Georgetown, Delaware, also smashed its previous record of 92F set in 1996 with the mercury reaching 93F over the weekend.
The ‘heat dome’ over the eastern United States is clearly visible in a deep shade of red
Several cities on the East Coast will experience highs in the 90s on at least one day this week
The northeast will have a brief reprieve for the first two days of the working week as a cold front passes through on Sunday night, but the heat will return by the middle of the week.
Temperatures for the week are up and down with Boston set to experience 66F on Monday, 77F on Tuesday and 88F on Wednesday before plunging into the low 60s by next weekend.
A similar forecast is planned for New York City with spring temperatures for the first part of the week before shooting into the 90s on Wednesday then dipping to mid-to-low 60s by Memorial Day weekend.
Typically, the eastern seaboard cities usually experience 90 degree plus days after June 1st but most will have at least one such high temp day during the coming week.
Washington DC, for example, is set to have several days above 90 with the peak coming on Wednesday and high’s of 97F. During an average year, such temperatures are not usually reached until mid-June.
