Temperatures of 100 degrees and above could hit 22 U.S. states Tuesday, forecasters warned, adding that it could feel like 115 degrees in parts of the Northeast and 120 in the South and Midwest.
Forecasters say the extreme heat could continue for most of the week and perhaps beyond. At the same time, many people won't be able to cool off by taking a dip: Swimming pools in some cities have closed because of budget cuts.
Nearly two dozen states in the Midwest, South and East are under heat alerts.
"It says a lot when you are dealing with such an expansive area of heat alerts," said National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro.
Cooler weather on the horizon?
Kevin Roth, lead meteorologist at The Weather Channel, wrote on its website that "very hot temperatures are forecast along the I-95 corridor." Once humidity and other factors were taken into account it could feel like 95 to 115 degrees Tuesday afternoon, he said.
Hot temperatures were also expected to continue from Kansas through the Ohio Valley in the Midwest and across the South, he added. Roth said "the very hot temperatures" combined with "oppressive humidity" could result in heat indices of 100 to 120 degrees Tuesday afternoon in both these regions.
However, Roth added there would be some relief in the Northeast later in the day, with a cold front expected to move into northern New York and northern New England, and then head south through the region into Wednesday.
"Much cooler temperatures move in behind the front tonight and Wednesday in northern areas and Wednesday night and Thursday in southern areas," he said.
Some thunderstorms were possible in northern New York and Northern New England Tuesday afternoon, Roth said. Some of those could be "severe, producing damaging wind gusts and hail."
Temperatures rise, records fall
Hutchinson, Kan., reached 103 Monday afternoon after hitting a scorching 112 on Sunday. Records haven't been kept there long enough to tell if it was a new high for the date.
The mercury hit 99 in Joplin, Mo., by the afternoon after topping out on Sunday at 106, breaking the record of 104 for the date, set in 1980.
Oklahoma City has hit 100 degrees or higher - 110 on Saturday - every day since June 29, including Monday, making it 13 in a row. The record there is 22 consecutive days of 100 degree-plus weather, set in 1936.
Dallas recorded its 10th-straight day of 100-degree weather Monday. The city hit 100 for nearly three straight weeks as recently as 2006, and the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory Monday afternoon for the Dallas-Fort Worth area for the first time since June 18. The advisory will remain in effect until Wednesday night.
In 1980, the Dallas-Fort Worth area endured 42 days in a row of 100-degree-and-over heat.
Little chance of rain
Triple-digit highs are expected through the weekend in Dallas, and there is little chance of rain to cool things down.
"It's breaking daily records, but when you're talking about a record string of days - we're not there yet," Vaccaro said. "We're in the midst of a heat wave that's not over yet."
On Monday, 87-year-old R.F. Lanham was taking the heat in stride as he picked weeds in his shaded front yard in Dallas. "I've seen a lot of hot summers," he said.
As 40-year-old Sally Smith loaded two of her children into her minivan as she left a spin class at a Dallas YMCA, she said that even though she had lived in Texas for 18 years, the hot weather was hard to get used to.
"You feel like your skin is baking," the Michigan native said.
In Fort Worth, all of the city's pools are closed because of budget cuts. Through a partnership with the YMCA, Fort Worth residents can swim at four of its pools for two hours a day without a membership.
Authorities said a 51-year-old man suffered heat stroke and died Sunday because his mobile home in Granite City, Ill., had no working air conditioner. His body temperature was 104 when he arrived at the hospital.
In Tahlequah, Okla., 56-year-old David Vaughan, who works construction at water treatment plants, said he was using survival skills he learned while working in Kuwait.
"In Kuwait, we had a saying: Walk slow and drink a lot of water," he said.
In New Orleans, the heat was, as usual, heavy and suffocating - but just under 95 degrees, cool enough to allow the mule-drawn carriages to continue riding through the French Quarter. When the mercury hits 95, tourist guides are prohibited from working their mules.
Lorna Taylor, a guide and horse trainer, kept a close eye on her mule, Elvis. She threw snacks into his trough to force him to dunk his head in the water. But she wasn't worried.
"Mules are desert-dwellers," she said, sweat glistening on her brow. "So this is a walk in the park."
always loved watching weather and forecasts, even before the USA TODAY came out in 1982 with their printed weather forecast.
more than most of the time, weather fronts used to sweep across the USA. some were warm, highlighted in red, others cold, highlighted in blue
in winter they blew in from the west, and northwest, with the occasional arctic chill from the north
in spring , sometimes storms blew in from the south (causing some tornados), or even the atlantic (like the blizzard of 93) - these would then be swept away by the front coming from the west.
now there are semi-permanent , stationary fronts, and bizzarro self forming land hurricanes and swirls. no fronts are sweeping in to cool the midwest/south down.
funny radar returns, too...