Heat alerts cover more than 20 states Tuesday and Wednesday across the Southern Plains and parts of the Northeast.
“Dangerous heat will continue to impact a large portion of the U.S. this week, with now more than 100 million people under excessive heat warnings or heat advisories,” the Weather Prediction Center said.
It means one-third of the U.S. population is under heat advisories and excessive heat warnings, and more than 80 percent of the U.S. population (around 265 million Americans) will see a high above 90 degrees over the next seven days.
The highest temperatures, pushing well into the triple digits, will be once again centered over the southern Plains.
More than two dozen record highs are possible Tuesday and Wednesday for the Southern U.S., including Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, and the East Coast is about to get into the mix as well.
The entire state of Oklahoma hit 103 degrees Tuesday, according to Oklahoma Mesonet, a joint weather updating system with Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma.
“This is the first time in our network’s history (dating back to the mid 1990s) to have 120 sites hit that mark on the same day. Before today we had 2 days with all sites hitting 100F or higher (7/9/11 and 7/10/11),” a tweet from the project read.
A number of record highs have been set across Texas and Oklahoma Tuesday as the region bakes in extremely high temperatures. Abilene, Texas, and Oklahoma City both broke records set in 1936—with both reaching 110 degrees, according to CNN meteorologist Mike Saenz.
Additionally, Wichita Falls, San Angelo, and the Midland International Air & Space Port in Texas all broke records set in 2018, Saenz said.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas set another unofficial record Tuesday for demand, a spokeswoman told CNN.
Another record is expected on Wednesday.
Parts of the Northeast will also have temperatures nearing daily records Wednesday and Thursday.
“Heat advisories are also now in effect for Wednesday for portions of the Northeast, including the I-95 corridor from Philadelphia to Boston, where heat index values are forecast to reach near 100 degrees,” the Weather Prediction Center said.
The CNN Wire contributed to this report.
