US weather forecast: Scorching heat to last for MONTHS as Americans to get 'extended summer'

Cooler weather may not arrive until November, as the nation battles an oppressive record-toppling heatwave.

Temperatures will hover around one to three degrees above average through the first two months of autumn, experts warn.

AccuWeather long-range expert Paul Pastelok said: “Autumn is going to feel more like an extended summer for millions of Americans this year.

“Much of the country will experience a delayed transition to cooler temperatures this year, following a summer with intense heat.

“We’ve seen temperature records shattered in several cities across California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and North Carolina this summer, and we could see more record temperatures later this year.”

Most at risk of extended heat are the Great Lakes, the Rockies and the Midwest with Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, California, Oregon and Washington to return closer to average.

Scorching heat will drive the threat of wildfires beyond the end of summer, according to AccuWeather experts.

A spokesman said: “We predict six to eight million acres of land will burn across the nation this year.

“Our 2024 Wildfire Forecast now calls for 1.5 million to 2.5 million acres of land to burn in California, which is more than the 1 million acres left scorched last year in the Golden State.

“Wildfires burning out of control could produce more hazardous smoke that is carried by the wind and spread east, creating dangerous air quality as far away as the Northeast US – a scenario that happened multiple times last summer and autumn.”

Swaths of America continue to fry as a stifling heat dome wedges over the nation like a giant greenhouse.

The dome–a region of stubborn high pressure–became established earlier in the season and has shifted to bring hotter weather further east.

Around the edge, cooler air has battled hotter air within, sparking deadly storms and tornadoes.

More than 20 states are currently under severe storm warnings which threaten damage from heavy rain and powerful gusts.

A spokesman for the US National Weather Service (NOAA), said: “Widespread, dangerous heat will be the big story for much of the country as one heatwave expands from the Plains and the Mississippi Valley into the Southeast and another heatwave begins over portions of the West.

“Daily Monsoonal shower and thunderstorm chances will remain over portions
of the Southwest with some heavy downpours possible and an isolated threat
for flash flooding.”

Jim Dale, meteorologist for British Weather Services and co-author of ‘Surviving Extreme Weather’, said: “With the extreme heat there is going to be a risk of storms through the week, and some of these will come with thunder and drenching rainfall.

“These storms will move eastwards and people within the affected areas can expect lightning, hail and difficult conditions.

“These storms are driven by cooler air meeting hot air over the country, which ploughs a lot of energy into the atmosphere.”