The intense heat wave that has caught a majority of the US in its unrelenting grip continues today, as weather records keep falling.
Brief respites in the incredible heat came again last night—by way of dangerous thunderstorms brought on by the heat. Powerful thunderstorms struck across parts of Indiana and Kentucky—which did provide some much-needed rain —while storms in North Carolina left three people dead and thousands without power.
This follows a series of storms on Friday that rolled through parts of Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia, which left at least thirteen people dead and cut off power to over three million people. Millions of people in the Washington, DC, area are still in the dark, as thermometers are set to hit the century mark once again today.
Between June 24 and Saturday, more than 1,928 record-high temperatures were broken or tied across the country, which does not include new records expected from Sunday that are not yet listed in the National Climatic Data Center's official count.
Emergency services have been overwhelmed with calls in major metropolitan areas with people overcome by the intense heat. Excessive heat alerts have been issued across a wide swathe of the country, and authorities are asking citizens to check in on elderly neighbors often. Many 4th of July celebrations have been curtailed or cancelled in certain locations, due to dry conditions and the oppressive, dangerous heat.
There is little relief spotted in future-casts from the National Weather Service, which predicts that the heat wave will continue relatively unabated through at least next weekend.
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