More than 132 million face wilting heat across eastern US

WASHINGTON – More than 132 million people across the central and eastern US are facing blistering temperatures to start the week, with rising humidity making it feel even worse and putting a strain on the energy grid as air-conditioners and fans get a workout.

Heat advisories or excessive heat warnings have been issued from Nebraska to Massachusetts and from North Dakota to Florida, covering all or part of 29 states and more than 38 per cent of the US population, according to the National Weather Service.

Sweltering conditions will peak on July 27 and 28 before gradually easing. The US South-east will be the last to get some relief, later in the week or next.

The high temperatures, made worse by humidity, have set a smattering of records, particularly in the South-east. Charlotte, North Carolina, hit a high of 38 deg C on July 26.

Sixty more records may be breached or tied in coming days. In Chicago, the combination of temperatures reaching 32.8 deg C and humidity will make it feel more like 38.9 deg C on July 28.

New York City is set to have readings peak on July 29 at 35.6 deg C in Central Park, but with humidity may feel closer to 40.6 deg C, the weather service said. 

In Washington, the high is forecast to reach 36.7 deg C on July 29 and 37.2 deg C on July 30.  

“It’s miserable, but the end is near,” said Mr Brian Hurley, a senior branch forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Centre. “A couple of days to go, maybe more than a couple of days if you are in the South-east.” 

Heat threatens human life, as well as stressing electric grids and transportation networks.

From 1979 to 2022, more than 14,000 Americans died from heat-related causes, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. 

Utilities are gearing up for continued high demand.

PJM Interconnection, a grid operator that moves electricity across 13 states and the District of Columbia, issued hot weather alerts for its Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions on July 27 and for its entire operating area on July 28.

It also called on power plants to be ready for service and that it may curtail exports to neighbouring grids if demand rises. 

The US weather service said a wide area of the US faces a moderate heat risk on July 27, with as many as 88.4 million people under a major threat and 10.8 million enduring extreme conditions, mainly along the eastern seaboard from Washington to Florida.

Mr Hurley said the heat will start to ease as a weather front pushes south, leaving lower temperatures and milder humidity in its wake.

In a week, a large part of the central and eastern US will likely be cooler than normal for early August, according to the US Climate Prediction Centre.

The weather service said that in addition to the heat, ground-level ozone in parts of New York and New Jersey may make breathing difficult for the young, the elderly and people with respiratory or heart conditions,

Further north, across Upstate New York and New England, smoke from Canadian forest fires is also harming air quality.

Mr Hurley said much of that threat should start to diminish in the coming days. Bloomberg