A quarter of US braces itself for Fourth of July scorcher

NEW YORK - A huge swathe of the United States will experience dangerously high temperatures on July 4 – just ahead of the long Independence Day weekend – meteorologists said, while a fast-moving California wildfire has forced thousands of residents to evacuate their homes.

Some 110 million people in 21 states across the west, the southern Plains and the mid-Atlantic will spend their holiday under heat-related advisories and warnings. Temperatures are expected to soar well past 38 deg C over the next several days, the National Weather Service said.

“It’s really hot; I don’t know how else to put it,” said Mr Jacob Asherman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Centre in College Park, Maryland. “We’re having excessively hot weather across a lot of the country.”

The scorching weather has set in just as the country begins the Independence Day weekend, a holiday when many Americans head outdoors for firework displays, parades, music festivals and the like.

Portland, Oregon, where conditions are typically mild, was expected to reach 38 deg C on July 5, breaking a record for the date, while in Jackson, Mississippi, known for its hot weather, the temperature was expected to reach 46 deg C, the service said.

Ms Jen Scott, a Portland native, said that when she was a child, “it was a big deal” if temperatures hit 90 deg F, or about 32 deg C. However, “for the last few years, it’s been getting extra hot”, she added. “But 100 (about 38 deg C) is crazy. We’re not used to this.”

Ms Scott, who manages Pearl Ace Hardware in Portland, said fans and air-conditioners have been flying off the shelves.

“Remember to stay hydrated, avoid strenuous outdoor activities, and make sure neighbours, relatives, pets have a cool place to spend the day,” the weather service’s Jackson office said on X.

In the south-west, Phoenix was expected to hit 45 deg C by July 5 with little relief in sight. Last summer, Arizona’s capital sizzled for a record-breaking 54 consecutive days when the temperature reached 43 deg C and higher, including 31 consecutive days through July.

Meanwhile, the brutal heat – coupled with fierce gusts of wind and low humidity in Northern California – is proving particularly challenging for the 500 firefighters who are battling the so-called Thompson Fire, which broke out on the morning of July 2.

The unchecked blaze, which has burned 809ha in Butte county and the city of Oroville, forced some 13,000 residents to flee their homes, according to fire officials and media.

Photographs and video footage from the area located about 105km north of Sacramento, the state capital, showed flames ripping through structures and torching vehicles.

Smoke from the fire and other blazes burning in Northern California was drifting south to San Francisco, where 7.7 million Bay Area residents have been encouraged to limit driving and not set off Fourth of July fireworks due to the poor air quality. REUTERS