(NEW YORK) — The last holiday weekend of the summer will bring scorching temperatures to a large portion of the U.S.
Regions from the Great Plains to the Great Lakes and the Northeast will experience record heat starting Sunday and will last for the next several days.
The Northeast will see its first true heat wave of the year, with high temperatures in the 90s from Sunday through Thursday. This will be a significant change for metropolitan areas like New York City, which has only experienced stretches in the 90s for three consecutive days this year, none of which have occurred in the past month.
Washington, D.C., is expected to reach near-record temperatures in the coming days and could reach up to 100 degrees on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The highest temperature the nation’s capital has experienced so far this year is 97 degrees.
Other cities like Detroit; Chicago; Minneapolis; Philadelphia; Richmond, Virginia; and Lubbock, Texas, will likely reach near record-breaking high temperatures over the coming days.
More than two dozen locations across America saw their hottest summer on record in 2023, according to records for June, July and August.
Record hot summers were recorded in major cities from like from Miami, New Orleans, Houston and Phoenix, which also experienced its driest summer on record, with just .12 inches of rainfall.
The states with the most cities recording their hottest-ever summer are Texas, at nine; Florida, with five; Louisiana, with four; and Alaska, at three, Mobile, Alabama; and San Juan, Puerto Rico also saw their hottest-ever summers.
Major cities recording one of their top five hottest summers included Dallas, Austin, Texas, Tampa, Seattle, Minneapolis, Tucson, Arizona; and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
As the U.S. experiences extreme temperatures on land, warm ocean waters are helping to breed storms in the tropics.
A tropical system is currently developing from a wave of energy moving off Africa, which could create a storm moving through the Caribbean by next weekend.
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