Several daily heat records were broken Tuesday, and more than 130 could be set through next Tuesday.
The California cities of San Rafael and Livermore hit all-time highs Wednesday, clocking in at 100 and 110 degrees respectively.
Excessive heat warnings are in effect for much of California and southern Nevada and parts of Arizona, Washington and Oregon.
An excessive heat warning means potentially life-threatening conditions, “with a high to very high risk for much of the population due to long duration heat with little to no overnight relief.”.
The National Weather Service in the San Francisco Bay Area warned that “an exceptionally dangerous situation is underway as we enter a potentially historic and deadly heat event.”.
It said the heat wave is expected to spread east into the Mid-Atlantic toward the end of the week.
About 13 million people are at risk of severe storms across the western High Plains and the Ohio River Valley. »