Publication Date March 20, 2017 | Washington Post

First day of spring, or summer? Record heat torches Southwest and Plains.

United States
Locations forecast to be within one degree of record heat on Monday circled. Image: WeatherBell.com
Locations forecast to be within one degree of record heat on Monday circled. Image: WeatherBell.com

Article excerpt

A summerlike heat dome, that has baked the Southwest United States since last week, has oozed into the Plains where high temperatures will threaten records Monday for a second straight day.

On Sunday, parts of the Plains logged their highest temperatures ever recorded so early in the season.

“The last day of winter went out with a blaze of warmth Sunday,” wrote Kansas’s Salina Journal, which documented record heat in the region.

...

In recent days, many locations from the Desert Southwest into the Plains have established new heat milestones, which include:

  • A record high of 90 degrees in Las Vegas and 99 degrees in Death Valley, Sunday.
  • Two consecutive record high temperatures in Boulder, Colo., Saturday and Sunday
  • Record highs of 95 and 96 degrees on Saturday and Sunday in Phoenix. A third straight record high is possible today. Through Sunday, Phoenix had hit 90 on seven straight days, two short of its longest March streak on record, which it could tie Tuesday.
  • A record high of 87 degrees Sunday in Kansas City, its warmest temperature so early in the season.
  • A record high of 92 degrees in Salina, Kan., Tuesday, its earliest 90+ degree temperature on record.

 

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