An historic, lasting and extreme heatwave isn’t finished however, it has already set many records, including all-time records. It’s the risk of an ” extreme” health risk for thousands of residents.

HTML0 The bigger image: The heat has been able to reach almost the entire west U.S., with warnings and advisories extending across Las Vegas to Seattle.

• Around 75 million individuals predominantly located in the West is in some form of extreme heat advisory or warning on Sunday.
• HTML0 The West however the near-record-breaking heat dome is delivering scorching dry and hot conditions increasing wildfire risk. Numerous massive and difficult-to-control fires are in the midst of burning .
• Warnings of excessive heat throughout the West Coast stretch from Nevada and Arizona through California and northward to Oregon as well as Washington State.

Zoom In: In California, temperatures have reached 20 to 30 degF higher than average for the holiday weekend temperatures, reaching upper 110s to low 120sdegF for some locations in the desert and inland.

• Many daily, month-long and lifetime heat records are expected to be set this weekend, as the temperatures reach their peak.
• Risk levels for heat are too high to be a threat to “anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration,” according to the National Weather Service.
• Forecasts suggest this heatwave to persist throughout the week ahead across many regions that will lead to health risks to rise.
• “A long-duration, rare, heat wave with an Extreme Heat Risk through late this week will have many impacts on all of our citizens and all sectors of the community,” the NWS forecast office located in Hanford, Calif. stated in an online discussion about the forecast on the morning of Sunday .

The numbers are in: Record-breaking temperatures across the East as well as the West indicate the possibility of important milestones to be set during this bi-coastal weather event.

• HTML0 Las Vegas hit an all-time high of 120 degrees in the afternoon of Sunday beating it by 3 degrees the previous record set in 2021,, 2013 and 1942 in accordance with NWS’ local office . It’s unusual to see an all-time record be beat by a significant margin .
• Death Valley, Calif. reached at least 129 degrees on Sunday one degree away from the highest consistently recorded temperature on Earth.
• on Friday Raleigh was 106 degrees with a an index of 118degF. This set records for its record-breaking temperature and the highest heat index. To the West, Palm Springs, Calif. was 124 degrees, for the highest temperature ever recorded. record.
• On the weekend, Redding, Calif. reached 119degF, surpassing its previous all-time record high of 118degF.

Next steps? The odds are for more records to fall by the middle of the week.

Context: The impact of human-caused climate change mostly from burning fossil fuels like natural gas and coal which has significantly increased the probability of heat waves and caused to them becoming more severe and last longer according to numerous studies.

• Research has shown the effects of climate change contributing to greater, more frequent forest fires across the West that are showing more often extreme behavior, making harder to manage.
• In accordance with the Climate Shift Index by the research group Climate Central, human-caused climate change is causing the daytime highs and lows this weekend across much of the inland California as well as a few parts in Oregon and Washington as well as other regions that are more than five times more most likely.
• This can be like the preindustrial atmosphere without the addition of greenhouse gases that contribute to warming the planet. These cities comprise Sacramento; Portland, Ore. And Las Vegas.

Level of threat Threat level California Red flag warnings have been issued throughout the state. It has been affected by extreme temperatures since Tuesday.

• The abundance of vegetation that flourished during the winter rains has rapidly dried out in the heat and reached the highest levels of dryness for this season, especially those in the north of California.
• HTML0 This greatly increases the risk of wildfires. For instance there was the French Fire , located close to Mariposa, Calif., forced road closures and evacuations the night of Thursday.
• The Lake Fire in Santa Barbara County has already ravaged over 13,000 acres.
• HTML0 Record-breaking overnight hot low temperatures aiding in fuelling this and other fires .

Rebecca Falconer contributed reporting.

Editor’s note This article was updated with the most recent conditions as well as Las Vegas’ temperature highs.