ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Life-threatening heat has spread across the eastern half of the United States this week, reaching first the Midwest, then the Northeast and now the South.
On Tuesday, Chicago reached 99 degrees, beating the city’s daily record of 97 degrees. Some schools in the area closed early because of the weather.
On Wednesday, the heat moved east, breaking record temperatures in Washington, DC, where temperatures reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), and Greenwood, Mississippi, where temperatures reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees Celsius).
The last major tennis tournament of the year, the US Open, currently being held in New York City, had “extreme weather guidelines” in place, with some stadium roofs closed and extended breaks for players.
The heat has now left the Midwest and the Northeast.
On Thursday, the focus will be on the south, and record temperatures are possible in cities such as Nashville, Tennessee, Raleigh, North Carolina and Louisville, Kentucky.
The heat index (perceived temperature and humidity) is expected to reach 100 degrees in Washington, DC and Charleston, South Carolina; 102 degrees in Nashville, Richmond, Virginia, Birmingham, Alabama and Charlotte, North Carolina; 103 degrees in Raleigh and Charleston, West Virginia; and a scorching 105 degrees in Jackson, Mississippi.
Friday will bring another day of record heat. Cooler air will then move in by the weekend.
Hundreds of people die each year in the United States due to extreme heat, according to CDC WONDER, an online database, and scientists warn that the actual number of heat-related deaths is likely higher.
According to JAMA, a peer-reviewed medical journal of the American Medical Association, there were more heat-related deaths in the United States last year than ever before.
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