Millions brace for East Coast heatwave that could break records
Topics: Weather, Climate Change
Phoebe Tonks
Featured Image Credit: The Weather Channel
Topics: Weather, Climate Change
Millions of homes across the entire East Coast have braced themselves for an unprecedented Spring heatwave, as temperatures have climbed between 20 to 30 degrees higher than the seasonal average.
The scorching temperatures have already begun to climb to the high 80’s and mid 90’s, with the heat expected to persist into the weekend before breaking on Sunday.
Several major cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Providence, Rhode Island, and Raleigh, North Carolina, all saw temperatures climb to over 20 degrees above the seasonal average of 60 on Wednesday, according to AccuWeather reports.
"The peak of the warmth in most places across the Northeast is on Wednesday afternoon. Even areas right along the water can expect temperatures well above the historic average for mid-April on Wednesday," said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Matt Benz.
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Typically temperatures like these aren’t seen until summertime, reports The Mirror, meaning the balmier conditions are offering residents a taste of what’s to come later in the year several months earlier than expected.
The warm weather is the result of a Bermuda High, during which a massive, semi-permanent high-pressure system over the North Atlantic Ocean pumps hot and humid air into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S., according to the Weather Prediction Center.
More than 20 states are currently in the path of the heatwave and have prompted authorities to release multiple heat-related weather alerts warning of potential health risks and possible wildfires in some areas.
"Early-season heat can hit harder than people expect because it arrives before routines, clothing and outdoor plans have adjusted to summer-like conditions," Benz warned.
AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski meanwhile highlighted the risk posed by wildfires as he added: "The combination of sunshine, gusty breezes and dry air will create near-ideal conditions for ignition and rapid fire spread.”
New Jersey has already seen firsthand the swiftness with which a fire can spread, having experienced multiple wildfires last weekend which officers struggled to contain amid the increasing heat. Even a relatively small 50 acre fire, was still only 40% contained, as conditions made control more difficult than usual.
Bill Donnelly, state fire warden and chief of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service spoke openly about what this could mean going forward, and warned that there is 'potential' for 'quite a busy fire season,' which typically runs from mid-March to mid-May in the Garden State.
More than 150 weather records have the potential to be broken amid the heatwave, before temperatures drop back down to normal at the start of next week.