About 30 million people are back under Excessive Heat Warnings for the weekend into next week across parts of the West as temperatures trending well-beyond triple digits return to the region.
SPOKANE, Wash. — One of the hottest starts to summer on record across much of the West is ready to write its next chapter as yet another dangerous bout of heat is building.
Just in time for the weekend, the worst of the heat wave will focus on two areas this time — in the Inland Northwest and then farther south in the interior valleys of California stretching into southern Nevada and western Arizona.
Excessive Heat Warnings cover about 19 million across six states as temperatures soar to within shouting distance of all-time record highs.
West Heat Alerts
(FOX Weather)
That includes about 3 million people in the Inland Northwest. Spokane, Washington is in the midst Friday of 15-straight days at or warmer than 90 degrees — tying the all-time record.
Highs will soon zoom past 100 over the weekend to shatter the record. The forecast high of 106 degrees on Sunday would be the city’s fourth-hottest day on record.
Boise has already had nine days at 100 or warmer in July and each of the next 7 days is expected to reach triple digits again, which would set an all-time monthly record.
As a result, much of Eastern Washington along with far eastern Oregon, northern Idaho, and Idaho’s Treasure Valley are forecast to see Major to Extreme heat risk, according to the National Weather Service.
In addition, some atmospheric instability is leading to a risk of dry thunderstorms across much of the Inland West. Dry thunderstorms are high-based storms where any rainfall evaporates into the hot, dry air beneath the clouds before the rain can wet the surface.
WHY DRY THUNDERSTORMS POSE WILDFIRE, DUST STORM RISKS
Fire Weather Outlook for Saturday
However, lightning has no problems reaching the ground and the storms are a dangerous recipe for sparking new wildfires without any of the benefit of soaking rainfall. Firefighters are already battling 57 large wildfires across the U.S. and hundreds more smaller fires.
More intense heat in the Desert Southwest
Yes, the month of July in the inland California valleys and Desert Southwest is blistering hot, even in the tamest of summer patterns. Even by their lofty temperature standards, this summer has residents beyond the usual shrugs of “it’s just a dry heat.”
Excessive Heat Warnings have returned once again for large swaths of the region, where 100 degrees is starting to feel like relief and 105 to 110 degrees is more the daily target.
Las Vegas July Highs Calendar
That includes Las Vegas which is staring at forecast high temperatures pushing 115 degrees just 10 days after overhauling the top of its all-time heat records. On July 6, Las Vegas’ all-time hottest temperature recorded in their 87 years of record was 117 degrees.
As of July 11, that record now sits in 5th place after Vegas reached highs of 120, 119 and 118 twice in the days between. Even before the weekend heat, the city sits at a whopping 7 degrees above average for July.
In Arizona’s Maricopa County, home to Phoenix and its suburbs, officials have already attributed 23 deaths to excessive heat with another 300 suspected heat-related deaths still under investigation.
The hot pattern holds through the end of the week, and long-range temperature outlooks are not offering much hope for relief.
NOAA’s August-October temperature outlook
(FOX Weather)
The latest 90-day forecast issued by NOAA on Thursday for the August through October period does indicate high confidence of above-average temperatures continuing across the inland West and Desert Southwest.