A punishing holiday heatwave is set to smother more than 250 million people from the Midwest to the East Coast, bringing searing temperatures and oppressive humidity to at least 36 states.
Authorities have posted heat advisories and excessive heat warnings across three dozen states as a sprawling heat dome settles over much of the nation. Highs are expected to climb into the upper 90s and triple digits, with “feels like” temperatures topping 100 degrees through the Independence Day weekend.
“More than 250 million people will be impacted by this heat wave,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Carl Erickson told The Post.
“It’s encompassing entire states. Thursday and Friday will mark the peak of the heat dome on the East Coast. Parts of the Southeast will also have uncomfortable and potentially dangerous heat and humidity … but many of those areas are used to dealing with those temperatures.”
According to Erickson, the most intense stretch of the prolonged heat will target the Ohio Valley as well as major population centers including Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, New York City, St. Louis and Memphis, along with the I-95 corridor up to Boston.
Erickson also warned people from Missouri south into Alabama and Mississippi to take the conditions seriously as the unrelenting heat expands across the region.
By Thursday, the heat index is forecast to surge to a hazardous 111 degrees in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, 110 in Nashville, 108 in Detroit, 106 in Boston and 102 in Chicago, ABC News reported.
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Friday will bring another brutal round, with temperatures expected to feel like 108 degrees in New York, 105 in Boston, 112 in Washington, DC, and 111 in Memphis, according to the outlet.
The worst of the heat and humidity will settle over the Southeast by Sunday and Monday, with parts of North Carolina expected to feel like a scorching 107 degrees and Georgia about 105, ABC News reported.
The sweltering stretch will finally begin to crack on Sunday in the Northeast — but not before heavy thunderstorms hammer the region from the Big Apple to the nation’s capital starting Friday night and raging through the holiday weekend as the heat and humidity lingers.
“The heat wave will break down across the northeast and Mid-Atlantic early next week,” Erickson said.
“New York City itself will see highs closer to the 80s – which will be a big difference from where it is now.”
In the Big Apple, temperatures are expected to ease slightly on Saturday with a high of 95 and conditions set to spark heavy afternoon thunderstorms, with a 55% chance of rain.
Sunday would be the last day of the heatwave with highs of 90 degrees, with storms forecasted to bring temperatures back down to normal by Monday.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has declared a heat emergency due to the weather and Gov. Kathy Hochul said officials are monitoring the heat and the state’s electrical grid.
