The October heat is breaking all records and is expected to continue in the southwest

About 39 million people in the region were under a heat warning Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

An unprecedented heat wave is ravaging parts of the western United States in early October, with record-breaking temperatures and ongoing warnings of excessive heat expected to last through the weekend.

Forecasters expect the muggy late-season heat wave to bring moderate to extreme heat risks across parts of the Southwest throughout the week and into the weekend. About 39 million people in the region were under a heat warning Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

The weather service expanded excessive heat warnings to areas near major cities, including Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles. High temperatures are expected to be 10 to 25 degrees above normal in parts of Arizona, California and Nevada, forecasters said.

“Similar areas will experience severe to extreme heat impacts over the next few days as temperatures of 30 to 110°F develop each afternoon and record temperatures are threatened,” the weather service warned Wednesday.

The hot conditions are caused by a heat dome – a strong high-pressure system that traps heat over a region and prevents cool air from entering. AccuWeather meteorologist Isaac Longley told USA TODAY that the ridge of high pressure remained persistent across the Southwest.

“This is certainly a very impressive heat wave, particularly for some towns and cities in the west and southwest,” Longley said. “It doesn’t really move. We’re not getting a weakening of the jet stream to really bring cooler or at least more pleasant weather to the areas of the Southwest and even along the West Coast.”

Longley also noted that the heat dome is “extensive” and is also affecting other areas such as Denver with unusually warm weather. Forecasters said dozens of heat records are likely to be set across the Southwest and West coasts over the course of the weekend.

The early fall heat wave follows a summer of extreme heat that hit both the western and eastern United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported last month that the summer of 2024 was the fourth hottest summer on record for the country.

According to NOAA, several states, including Arizona and California, had their warmest summer on record. “Due to global warming, summers are becoming hotter across much of the western United States and both the number of heat waves and the length of the heat wave season are increasing,” NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said.

Autumn is here: Weather forecasters predict that it will be even warmer in autumn

Phoenix has no relief from weeks of high temperatures

After experiencing its warmest summer on record this year, Phoenix saw little relief in September with persistent high temperatures topping 100 and even 110 throughout the month.

Temperatures continued to set records well into October, as both Phoenix and Yuma hit 113 degrees on Tuesday – making it the hottest October day in the city’s history. According to a weather forecast from the weather service, Phoenix has never seen temperatures exceed 110 degrees in the month of October.

According to the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY Network, Tuesday was the eighth straight day of record, tied or divergent temperatures in Phoenix. The records continued to be challenged Wednesday when the weather service in Phoenix reported temperatures reached 108 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 107 degrees set in 1980.

An excessive heat warning issued by the weather service has been extended through the weekend because “record-breaking daily maximum temperatures are expected to continue,” the agency said Wednesday. Temperatures between 105 and 112 were expected for the lower desert areas.

Record temperatures in California

Temperatures reached seasonal highs along parts of the California coast, AccuWeather said. In San Francisco, temperatures climbed to 94 degrees on Tuesday, making it the city’s hottest day since 2022, according to the weather service.

“94 degrees in San Francisco yesterday, similar temperatures are expected today,” the weather service in San Francisco said on Wednesday. “For October, we have only met this benchmark 15 times in the last 150 years.”

The weather service extended its excessive heat warning for inland parts of the Bay Area, the Central Coast and the city of San Francisco through late Thursday. According to the weather service, several daily record temperatures were set or tied across the region on Wednesday as San Jose reached 106 degrees, breaking records of 96 degrees set in 1980 and 2012.

Los Angeles will continue to experience high temperatures through Thursday, with the hottest areas expected to reach 100 to 106 degrees, the weather service said. Multiple records were already set across Los Angeles County on Tuesday, as some cities experienced triple-digit temperatures.

According to AccuWeather, temperatures will be 5 to 10 degrees above the historical average throughout the week.

Contributors: Skylar Heisey and Hayleigh Evans, Arizona Republic

The October heat is breaking all records and is expected to continue in the southwest

ByJasper

About 39 million people in the region were under a heat warning Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Phoenix has no relief from weeks of high temperatures

Record temperatures in California

By Jasper

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