The US West and much of the US South is being hit by an “extremely dangerous” heat wave this weekend, according to the country’s weather service, with the mercury reaching as high as 47 degrees Celsius in some cities.

“A sweltering and extremely dangerous heat wave is expected to affect the West this weekend, as well as parts of the South,” the US National Weather Service (NWS) warned in a bulletin issued yesterday, Saturday morning.

“Many record temperatures are possible and air quality issues will be experienced in many areas of the US,” according to the NWS.

And no respite is in sight anytime soon for the more than 90 million Americans under a heat alert, as the “heat dome” is expected to “remain over (those areas) for the next few days,” the US weather service predicted.

Last night the mercury touched 47 degrees Celsius in Phoenix, Arizona in the southwestern US, which recorded a maximum temperature of over 43 degrees Celsius for the 16th consecutive day.

A portion of the state is on a “deep-red” alert for a “rare and/or prolonged level of extreme heat,” which represents the NWS’s highest alert level.

At the same time, in the central and southern parts of California, the temperature ranged between 41 and 45 degrees Celsius, according to the NWS, while in the infamous Death Valley, the mercury reached up to 51 degrees Celsius, while for today it is expected to reach 54.

Unusual heat wave

In the southern part of this US West Coast state, firefighters have been battling since Friday to put out several wildfires that have burned more than 12,000 acres and forced the evacuation of residents.

For climatologist Daniel Swain of the University of California, Los Angeles, the mercury in Death Valley could reach and even exceed the highest temperature ever reliably measured on Earth, the 54.4 degrees Celsius previously recorded. there in 2020 and 2021, according to many experts.

“This heat wave is NOT typical of desert heat due to its long duration, extreme daytime temperatures, and warm nights,” the Las Vegas branch of the NWS said in a tweet, adding: “all of people need to take this heat wave seriously, including those living in the desert.”

In Texas, energy provider Reliant Energy asked Houston residents to reduce their electricity consumption to ease pressure on the power grid.

Other areas of the US face the risk of heavy rainfall.

“Severe to severe thunderstorms, heavy rainfall and flooding are possible in many places, particularly and unfortunately in New England, which is already saturated” from recent rainfall, according to the NWS.

This region of the northeastern US, and particularly the state of Vermont, was hit this week by “historic and catastrophic” flooding after torrential rains.

No respite

In Canada, the number of wildfires continues to grow, especially in the western part of the country, where hundreds of fires, mostly started by storms, have been recorded in a few days.

“This year we are facing numbers that are worse than our most pessimistic scenarios,” Jan Boulanger, a researcher at the Canadian Ministry of Natural Resources, told AFP.

“What’s completely crazy is that there hasn’t been any respite since the beginning of May,” notes the wildfire expert.

More than a hundred million acres have already burned across the country — more than 11 times the annual average of the past decade.

The all-time annual record — which was 73 million acres in 1989 — has already been far surpassed.

In total, the country has counted 4,088 fires since January and more than 150,000 people have had to leave their homes.

The impact is also being felt in Canada’s southern neighbor, as smoke from wildfires has resulted in northern US states such as Montana and North Dakota recording “harmful” air quality levels.

Emissions of greenhouse gases are increasing the intensity, duration and frequency of heat waves, according to experts.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states in particular that “heat waves are occurring more frequently than before in major cities across the United States.”

“Their frequency is constantly increasing, from an average of two heat waves per year during the 1960s to six during the years 2010 and 2020,” he underlines.