Publication Date June 16, 2016 | Discover Magazine

The building brutal heat wave, in four graphics

United States
The forecast for winds at jet stream level on Monday, June 20. Image: earth.nullschool.net
The forecast for winds at jet stream level on Monday, June 20. Image: earth.nullschool.net

Los Angeles is now forecast by the National Weather Service to top out at 103 degrees on Monday...

According to the NWS forecast discussion for the area, if the models are right:

. . . this will likely be the warmest June heat wave in almost a decade. There is a chance that this heat wave could [be] the warmest June event in over a decade with widespread record heat occurring on Monday and maybe Tuesday.

The forecast for Phoenix isn’t any better, with high temps forecast to reach 118 there on Monday. As the NWS forecast discussion for the area puts it:

The expanding high pressure system over the region will build to levels not seen in awhile, meaning record heat, especially Sunday through Wednesday.