Publication Date July 19, 2016 | Washington Post

Dangerous heat to swell from central U.S. midweek to East Coast by the weekend

United States
GFS model simulation of the heat dome centered on the South Central United States on Wednesday. Image: WeatherBell
GFS model simulation of the heat dome centered on the South Central United States on Wednesday. Image: WeatherBell

Today, the heat dome begins to bake the Great Plains. By Wednesday and Thursday, it expands to cover the zone from Mississippi to Minneapolis. Between Friday and early next week, its core oozes toward the Mid-Atlantic.

In some areas, the punishing swelter will persist for four to five days. Although temperatures may fall shy of record levels, the long duration of the event will take its toll.

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Today’s heat, focused from the panhandle of Texas through the Dakotas, is is forecast to produce a wide arc of stifling 100- to 105-degree temperatures. From Nebraska northward, heat advisories and excessive-heat warnings have been hoisted, and temperatures are forecast to be 10 to 20 degrees higher than normal.

Torrid heat is also forecast to commence today in both Kansas City, Mo., and St. Louis, where excessive-heat warnings are in effect through Friday evening.

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Suffocating humidity (dew points as high as 80 degrees) combined with temperatures in the mid-90s may lead to heat indices of as high as 110 degrees