Heat dome to push extreme temperatures across much of US this week
- - - Heat dome to push extreme temperatures across much of US this week
John Bacon, USA TODAY July 21, 2025 at 7:38 PM
A bulge in the jet stream is conspiring with a large high-pressure system to create a "heat dome," bringing temperatures approaching triple digits that could linger into August across a swath of the Midwest and East, forecasters say.
Dallas could see 100 degrees for the first time in 2025. The Kansas City, Missouri, area, which hasn't seen 100 degrees in two years, could reach the figure multiple times this week, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Chad Merrill said.
The National Weather Service, which is predicting a heat index of 107 on July 21 and 106 on July 22 for Kansas City, has issued an extreme heat warning there until the late on July 24.
Almost 85 million Americans from South Dakota to Texas and North Carolina to Florida were already under National Weather Service extreme heat warnings, watches or advisories July 21. The heat will intensify July 22 and deep into the week − and possibly beyond.
"By midweek, 90s will have spread from the South into the Midwest and Great Lakes," wrote Jonathan Erdman, a senior meteorologist at weather.com.
Parts of Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana will have highs peak at near or above 100 degrees, and a much larger area of the South, Midwest and Great Lakes will see a heat index surpassing 100 degrees, he said.
"This has the look of a long-lasting heat wave with limited rainfall," Merrill said. "Drought will expand through the central Plains by mid-August and worsen in Kansas and Nebraska, where there are already pockets of moderate to extreme drought."
Developments:
∎ Chicago corn, wheat and soybean futures fell July 21 as traders weighed concerns that hot weather will shrink U.S. yields, Reuters reported.
∎ Areas from the central and northern Plains to the Ohio Valley and Southeast could face complexes of damaging wind and rain storms known as derechos, AccuWeather said.
Angry storms, 'heat dome': Threaten to fuel dangerous weather week
What is a heat dome?
Heat dome is not actually a scientific term, according to climatecheck.com, which says the term does effectively describe the "oppressive" high-pressure atmospheric systems that cause warm air to be pushed to the Earth's surface and trapped their for long periods of time.
"The dome traps high-pressure air in one place, like the lid on a pot," the website says. "These large zones of hot air result in a combination of blistering temperatures, devastating wildfires, and drought conditions."
Brief respite for Northeast before heat dome advances
The Northeast will enjoy a few days of lower humidity and cooler temperatures before a "bubble" from the heat dome slips away from the Midwest and brings brutal heat east, AccuWeather forecasts. Temperatures will dip into the 60s in New York and Washington, D.C., the 50s in Boston and into the 40s in some areas of the Northeast's interior.
The respite will wrap up by July 25, when the high temperature for Washington is forecast to reach almost 100 degrees. Detroit will reach deep into the 90s Thursday and Friday. Philadelphia will push close to 100 on July 25 and July 26.
"The late-week scorcher heading into the East will be a quick whiplash," Merrill said.
The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for all of South Florida including Palm Beach County from noon to 6 p.m. on July 21, 2025.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Heat dome to push extreme temperatures across much of US
Source: “AOL AOL General News”
