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topicnews · September 3, 2024

September begins with potentially record-breaking heat in the southwest and west coast

September begins with potentially record-breaking heat in the southwest and west coast

Summer is in full swing in September: heat warnings are expected for 26 million people by Wednesday, especially in the southwest.

According to federal meteorologists and NBC News, temperatures in cities such as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix could be ten to twenty degrees above normal starting Tuesday and peak on Thursday.

A mass of warm air pressing down on the Earth’s surface (called a ridge) is strengthening over the Southwest and blocking cool air from the Pacific Ocean, creating dangerous heat conditions from California’s Central Valley east of San Francisco to the U.S.-Mexico border near Arizona.

“Above-average temperatures are forecast for much of the West Coast, including possible daily records,” the National Weather Service said in a special heat wave report on Sunday.

The Los Angeles weather service said on Monday that maximum temperatures of between 37 and 45 degrees Celsius were possible starting Wednesday. The hottest places are likely to be in the western San Fernando Valley.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said Monday she would deploy city resources to prepare, including “enhanced cooling centers” and emergency response workers. The additional cooling centers will open Tuesday morning, her office said in a statement.

Public libraries, parks, recreation centers, senior living facilities, community swimming pools and wading pools, as well as hydration stations and shade structures will be made available, her office said. A dedicated cooling center, ReFresh Spot, with access to drinking water and showers, will be open 24 hours a day in Skid Row, it said.

An extreme heat warning was expected for most of Southern California’s most populous counties (San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara), as well as the Inland Empire of desert and mountain communities stretching almost to Las Vegas, from Wednesday through Friday.

The warnings begin at the U.S.-Mexico border and extend up the coast to the rugged coastline at San Simeon, California, state forecasters said. They extend eastward into Arizona and cover southern Nevada. The National Weather Service office for Las Vegas, where these The summer was declared the hottest on record and a low-level heat warning was issued for the same period. Temperatures of up to 41 degrees Celsius were forecast during the week.

“Drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms, avoid the sun and look after relatives and neighbors,” said an urgent weather report from the weather service about the heat wave.

The bureau, which covers Phoenix, also issued a heat warning for the last three days of the week, saying in its urgent weather advisory Monday that “dangerously hot conditions [are] possible.”

A heat warning describes impending heat that is certain to occur and poses a “significant” threat to life, according to the National Weather Service. Such a warning is issued when such heat is likely but there is still a day or two to prepare, the weather service said.

Meanwhile, normal to below-average temperatures are expected on the east coast, while thunderstorms are expected on the Texas Gulf Coast.

Heat in the West is not expected to help the dry, windy conditions in the northern Plains states, which include Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas and Oklahoma. A federal “critical fire weather forecast” has been announced for the region for the work week.

Dennis Romero

Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.

Christine Rapp contributed.

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