“Dangerous heat wave” will hit the United States in the week of the 4th of July
The National Weather Service warned that heat will intensify across most of the central and eastern United States.
The United States faces a “dangerous heat wave” with possible record temperatures and wind chills of up to 46 degrees Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) this week, which will include the July 4 holiday, while states such as Utah and Colorado declare emergencies for fires derived from high temperatures and drought that have already left three firefighters dead.
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a warning because “a dangerous and prolonged heat wave will intensify across most of the central and eastern United States,” with a risk of “increased” to “extreme” in regions such as Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois and Washington D.C.
Most of the country will face maximum temperatures that would exceed 37 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit), although there will be places where the wind chill reaches 46 degrees Celsius (115 Fahrenheit), which could break records from the same dates in previous years, the NWS indicated in its warning.
The heat will be combined with “high levels of humidity,” which will first affect cities in the Southern Plains, the Middle Mississippi Valley and then the Mid-Atlantic region, the meteorological agency detailed.
“Much of the central and eastern US will be under a ‘moderate’ to ‘major’ heat risk on Monday, and a ‘major’ to ‘extreme’ heat risk on Tuesday,” the forecast noted.
The NWS warned that combining warming during the day with “limited” cooling at night will increase the risk of heat-related illnesses.
Dozens of fires
The forecast comes as the western United States deals with wildfires in states including New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada, which left three firefighters dead and two injured on the Colorado-Utah border, the US Forest Fire Service reported Sunday.
The governors of Colorado and Utah have declared states of emergency over the fires, fueled by heat and dry conditions.
For now, there are 27 major fires in the United States affecting a total of 25,786 acres (10,435 hectares), including Alaska, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, Florida, Idaho and Wyoming, according to the federal government's National Interagency Fire Center.
So far this year, wildfires in the United States have already affected 70% more territory than in the same period in 2025, with more than 35,000 fires that have damaged almost 2.94 million acres (1.9 million hectares), according to the same source. EFE