Washington, Jul 17 (EFE).- More than 100 million inhabitants of the southern and western United States remain under National Weather Service extreme heat advisories, watches and warnings.
Severe flooding in the northeastern US over the weekend, meanwhile, caused damage to infrastructure, cut off roads and left at least five dead and two young children missing.
In a bulletin issued Monday, the NWS said a lengthy heat wave was set to continue in the southwest and south-central US, as well as in South Florida, through mid-week.
“Record breaking heat is expected in the Four Corners states (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah), Texas to the Lower Mississippi Valley and South Florida each day.”
“Daytime highs will routinely reside in the triple digits in the Desert Southwest and Texas,” the NWS said.
“The Gulf Coast and mid-South can expect daytime highs in the mid-upper 90s (around 35-37 C) that coincide with oppressively high dew points, resulting in sweltering heat indexes between 105-115 F (40-46 C).”
Around 105 million people, or around 31 percent of the US population, live in the regions under active NWS extreme heat alerts, the National Integrated Heat Health Information System said Monday.
For Tuesday, meteorologists are forecasting daytime highs of 118 F (48 C) in Phoenix, Arizona; 111 F (44 C) in Las Vegas, Nevada; and 107 F (42 C) in Dallas, Texas.
The NIHHIS map shows extreme heat alerts from the coasts of California to Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
And unstable atmospheric conditions will bring rains and storms to the midwestern US, the Ohio Valley, the northeast and Florida on Monday and Tuesday, the NWS said.
Flash flooding over the weekend swept away more than 10 cars on a road in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia, leaving five dead and two children aged two years and nine months missing.
The NWS said Monday that more severe and intense storms will occur along a front that extends from the northern Plains to the Ohio Valley.
Nevertheless, that federal agency said the intense rains that have affected the northeastern US will gradually move off the coast.
In recent hours, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency in his state due to intense storms that have damaged roadways.
Flooding in Connecticut, meanwhile, interrupted traffic on dozens of roads and forced the suspension of operations at the Tweed-New Haven Airport on Sunday. That airport reopened on Monday.
On Sunday, the NWS issued a flood watch for most of Massachusetts and a tornado watch for all of New England. EFE
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