Another round of broiling conditions is taking shape across the West, in many of the same locations that dealt with major heat last week. Heat warnings have been posted again for California’s Central Valley, and more warnings dot the deserts of the Southwest, including Death Valley, the Grand Canyon and the cities of Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson.
Across the region, 20 million residents are under alert, beginning Tuesday and lasting through Thursday. Record or near-record highs are expected to expand across California and the West heading through the early week. From there, the heat will shift east — record highs may reach into spots like the Mid-Atlantic to end this week and then attempt a return next week.
Longer term, it appears that the heat dome will intensify again over the West and overtake much of the Lower 48 — perhaps just in time to head into the heart of summer, which is forecast to be a very toasty one.
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As for this week, temperatures around 100 Monday in the Central Valley and 105 in the deserts southeast of there will rise at least 5 and perhaps 10 degrees more over coming days. This equates to highs 10 to 20 degrees above normal across a large portion of California, across the Rockies and eventually spilling east of the continental divide.
The heat forecast for the week
Trapped low pressure off the Southern California coast could linger there much of the week. It will eventually deliver a late-season shower and storm risk to parts of the Southland, and it will also help enhance high pressure to its north. The same zone of high pressure connects to a heat dome that has been hanging out near and south of the international border with Mexico.
The week begins with the most unseasonable weather centered on Northern California and into parts of the Pacific Northwest. On Tuesday, the focus should expand to cover much of the West, and it could intensify further Wednesday before beginning to shift its focus into the Great Basin and eastward.
Some daily warmth records for lows were being threatened Monday in the West, and a handful of record highs could be as well, especially between roughly Sacramento and Redding in California.
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Given where the center of unseasonably high temperatures is, some unusually high-elevation locations could be staring down high heat and potential record highs. Both Lake Tahoe and Reno in Nevada could reach record highs in the low to mid-80s and upper 90s, respectfully. Mount Shasta will also threaten record highs near 90 during the stretch.
For Las Vegas, where temperatures are forecast to flirt with 110 for several days and not drop much if at all below 80, the Weather Service office serving the area warned of compounded effects from a previous stretch of extreme heat.
“Folks who are vulnerable to the heat may be coming into this episode already carrying some leftover stress from the previous episode,” it wrote.
Grand Junction in Colorado may set a record of over 100 on Wednesday, while Albuquerque and El Paso get their turn to make a run at records by Thursday.
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The same regions will also see numerous warm minimum marks newly breached throughout the workweek.
Even without records, days of brutal heat at a still relatively early point in the summer season will take a toll. The Central Valley is looking at four to five days of near 100 to 105 before any slight cool-down. To the southeast, deserts from eastern California to west Texas can anticipate day after day of 105- to 110-degree heat, with some days even hotter.
In what is often thought of as the hottest place on earth, Death Valley is forecast to reach 115 Monday, 121 Tuesday, 122 Wednesday and 118 Thursday. It reached 122 there last week at peak.
Where some records were set
The intense blast of heat relented only slightly over the weekend.
Record highs were set Friday in Las Vegas (110), Tucson (109), Roswell (105) in New Mexico and Colorado Springs (102), among a number of other places in the region.
Meanwhile, well to the southeast, Florida continues to roast on the edge of the same subtropical heat dome that has spread hot air northward in the West. All of the locations with the most record highs so far in June are in the Sunshine State.
