More Than a Dozen US Cities Set Daily High Temperature Records, Including One That Hit 103

Wire Service
By Wire Service
June 15, 2022Weather
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More Than a Dozen US Cities Set Daily High Temperature Records, Including One That Hit 103
A water fountain sprays water over a pond as golfers play at the Montebello Golf Course in Montebello, Calif., on June 14, 2022. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

At least 15 U.S. cities set or tied records for their highest temperature for the date, with Macon, Georgia, hitting 103 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday, the National Weather Service reported.

That was 3 degrees higher than the previous June 15 mark in Macon, set in 2010.

Records were set in states from Michigan—where the Tri-Cities saw 94 degrees—to Florida, where it was 95 in Tampa, equaling a mark set in 2001.

More than 120 million people were under heat warnings and advisories Wednesday, according to the weather service.

In a midday forecast the agency said: “Life threatening excessive heat will develop across portions of the Midwest” and Georgia will experience “dangerous heat.” There are also warnings or watches in the Southwest, and parts of Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, and Oklahoma.

A total of 32 places across the central and southern U.S. may get close to or exceed high-temperature records, according to the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center. Multiple cities, including St. Louis, Nashville and Charlotte, North Carolina, have already broken daily records this week.

US heat card
A weather map that shows areas in the United States with forecast temperatures over 90 degrees on June 15, 2022. (CNN Weather)

The dangerous temperatures come as many homes remain without power after storms across the Midwest on Monday. That includes about 180,000 customers without power in Ohio on Wednesday, according to Poweroutage.us.

The majority of Ohio has been under an excessive heat warning and about a dozen cities are among those that could set temperature records, according to the weather service. A spokesperson for electric company AEP Ohio told CNN that some customers should prepare for outages to last until Thursday.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther called on residents to use cooling centers and swimming pools on Wednesday to beat the heat, and to check on neighbors as power slowly comes back online.

“AEP is dealing with the damage from last night’s storms plus high demand because of excessive heat. They are working to restore power to everyone. I know it’s tough—I’m without power at my house as well,” the mayor said on social media.

Records have also been hit by some power-grid operators amid the surging demand for air-conditioning. Both the Tennessee Valley Authority and Texas operator ERCOT recorded highs for electricity usage.

Schools have been forced to alter schedules due to the excessive heat. In Wisconsin, where a heat index of 108 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded by the weather service Tuesday at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, Milwaukee Public Schools officials dismissed students early and said they will do so again Wednesday.

“Young children and persons with certain health conditions are especially vulnerable to heat-related distress,” the district announced on its website. “For the safety of all, the district has decided to shorten the school day.”

More than a dozen schools in Minnesota that are not fully air-conditioned moved to e-learning on Tuesday, according to Minneapolis Public Schools. Detroit Public Schools announced they will close all in-person schools three hours early through Friday due to the extreme heat.

On Thursday, temperatures are forecast to climb well above normal for much of the Great Basin, the Rockies, and Southwest. An excessive heat warning has also been issued for parts of interior southern California and Arizona, where daytime highs are expected to soar once again well into the triple digits.

Don’t rely on fans to keep you cool in extreme heat. Here’s how to stay safe.

Wildfires Rage in Arizona, New Mexico

Meanwhile, states across the Southwest faced an elevated risk of wildfires due to windy conditions and relative humidity on Tuesday.

In Arizona, the Pipeline Fire just north of Flagstaff has scorched more than 22,000 acres as of Wednesday morning, U.S. Forest Service officials said. The blaze was first spotted on Sunday, according to a Tuesday update from InciWeb, a federal clearinghouse for wildfire information.

A second fire just a few miles away, the Haywire Fire, has burned roughly 5,000 acres, according to the forest service.

Firefighters in New Mexico continue to battle the two largest fires in the state’s history, the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire just northeast of Santa Fe and the Black Fire in the Gila National Forest. They have burned almost 640,000 acres combined.

There are 38 active large wildfires in the United States as of Tuesday that have burned almost 1.2 million acres in four states—Alaska, Arizona, California and New Mexico, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

The CNN Wire contributed to this report

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