A massive heat dome is set to descend on the eastern half of the U.S., stretching from the Midwest to the East Coast and putting more than 230 million people in the crosshairs of temperatures above 90F, while millions will experience triple-digit temperatures during the Fourth of July holiday week and into weekend festivities.
The Midwest will be the epicenter of the heat dome early in the week, with metro areas such as St. Louis and Detroit climbing into the mid- to upper 90s.
By Wednesday, the heat shifts eastward, threatening record highs across Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City, where temperatures are expected to exceed 100F over multiple days.
Meteorologist Ryan Maue described it as a “mega heat dome” that will produce “record highs (daily) for almost the entire Eastern Seaboard from Maine to South Carolina.”