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... Why it matters: The extreme heat poses an acute public health risk, particularly since it will last more than a week in some places.
- - - It will also cause an uptick in fire risks in the West, where large, fast-moving and deadly blazes are already burning.
Zoom in: As a strong area of high pressure aloft, or heat dome, intensifies and stretches its influence across the Lower 48 states, cities from Washington to Sacramento could near or surpass 100F as early as Thursday.
- - - The heat is forecast to persist the longest in the West, where the National Weather Service shows at least some risk of extreme heat through Aug. 10.
- - - The heat index is likely to max out in the humid Mississippi River Valley during this event at around 115F, according to the NWS.
- - - "The combination of hot temperatures/high heat indices, as well as very warm morning lows only dropping into the mid- to upper 70s, will be dangerous to anyone without access to adequate air conditioning," the NWS warned in a Thursday morning forecast discussion.
- - - The West will also face hazardous air quality due to ongoing fires, the NWS warns....
