More than 100 million in the US face excessive warning or heat advisories as a dangerous heat wave continues
(CNN) - Heat alerts cover more than 20 states today and Wednesday across the Southern Plains and parts of the Northeast, and temperatures will soar above the century mark for 60 million people over the next week. All while a similar heat wave is bringing all-time record temperatures to Western Europe.
"Dangerous heat will continue to impact a large portion of the US this week, with now more than 100 million people under excessive heat warnings or heat advisories," the Weather Prediction Center said.
It means one-third of the US population is under heat advisories and excessive heat warnings, and more than 80% of the US population (around 265 million Americans) will see a high above 90 degrees over the next seven days.
More than two dozen record highs are possible today and tomorrow for the Southern US, including Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, and the East Coast is about to get into the mix as well.
The entire state of Oklahoma hit 103 degrees today, according to Oklahoma Mesonet, a joint weather updating system with Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma.
"This is the first time in our network's history (dating back to the mid 1990s) to have 120 sites hit that mark on the same day. Before today we had 2 days with all sites hitting 100F or higher (7/9/11 and 7/10/11)," a tweet from the project read.
A number of record highs have been set across Texas and Oklahoma today as the region bakes in extremely high temperatures. Abilene, Texas, and Oklahoma City both broke records set in 1936 -- with both reaching 110 degrees, according to CNN meteorologist Mike Saenz.
Additionally, Wichita Falls, San Angelo and the Midland International Air & Space Port in Texas all broke records set in 2018, Saenz said.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas set another unofficial record Tuesday for demand, a spokeswoman told CNN.
Another record is expected on Wednesday.
Parts of the Northeast will also have temperatures nearing daily records Wednesday and Thursday.
"Heat advisories are also now in effect for Wednesday for portions of the Northeast, including the I-95 corridor from Philadelphia to Boston, where heat index values are forecast to reach near 100 degrees," the Weather Prediction Center said.
