A heat dome is bringing oppressive heat to the eastern half of the US, the forecasts have warned people in areas that they take care to deal with extremely high temperatures. The phenomenon occurs when high pressure penis and mesh do hot air near the surface, while also pressing the clouds and rainfall.

Summer warnings and advice “The lower Mississippi is extending from the Valley and Midwest to the east coast, affects about 160 million people,” National Weather Service Where said Tuesday morning,

Boston, Mass., Hit 100 degrees Tuesday afternoon. The temperature in many parts of Pennsylvania with heat index values ​​rose to 95 degrees Above 100 degrees Expected in cities such as Philadelphia, Lancaster and Pittsburgh. In Central Northern Carolina, forecasts expect Heat index values ​​up to 115 degrees,

What is a heat dome?

“It almost acts like a lid on a pot,” Alex Lamors of the National Weather Service told NPR, while discussing how a heat dome works. Operations Branch is prominent at the Lamors Weather Prediction Center.

“If you have made grilled cheese in a pan and you put a lid there, it melts the cheese rapidly as the lid helps to implicate the heat,” the lamers said. “This is a similar concept here: you find a large high pressure system in the upper parts of the atmosphere and it allows that heat to be made under several days.”

This is correct: day, or even weeks.

A heat dome is basically a spacious area of ​​high pressure and warm air that has a “park” in an area. The exact location is usually connected to the jet stream – and now, Jet stream is fast moving towards NortheastFrom the upper Baja California Peninsula to a place exactly west of the Michigan Lake. This allows a heat dome to remain in the eastern half of the US

When a heat dome sits in a large land area, it can make a type of feedback loop, the lamers said, high pressure usually means dry season, which can help run the heat even more.

Extreme heat has broken records in many parts of America in recent years, and scientists have warned that we are likely to see even more dangerous temperatures in the future – a trend is associated with a trend. Human-causing climate changeBoth were nominated on 2023 and 2024 The hottest year ever recorded,

A woman protects herself from the sun on Tuesday, passing through Boston Common, with a temperature of close to 100 degrees.

Charles Krupa/AP

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Charles Krupa/AP

Health alert again marks the onset of summer

People living in midwests and northeast can be forgiven for the spirit of weather: about a year ago, brought a heat dome Record high temperature In those areas, sending summer at the beginning of a scorching.

The current summer is expected to remain in the midwests through this week, causing the temperature average which is much above the average. The NWS said that a cold front should get relief for the Northeast and Middle-Atlantic at the end of this week.

While the records will come in high headlines, hot night temperatures will make it difficult for people to cool down and will recover when they finally get a break from the sun.

Experts have warned that oppressive heat can pose special risk for children and people with existing health issues – but weather service warns, “This heat level can be dangerous for anyone without adequate cooling and/or hydration.”

Anyone who has to be out, he is a pediatrician at Washington, DC at the Children’s National Hospital. Jess Visas should consider advice. told Morning version These tips: “To take a lot of brakes, especially if they are physically active, drinking a lot of water, then using sunscreen and a hat -like sun protection.

Summer domes affect our different parts

In recent years, Heat Dome has hit other areas. In Early last yearWestern America faced high temperatures which was 20 to 30 degrees warm above normal. In 2023, a dome that was formed at a huge swath of the Great Plains, South and Midwest in late August, brought a grain of record temperature from New Orleans to Chicago. For the second consecutive year, there were there Over 600 deaths related to heat Arizona’s Maricopa County in 2024 and Phoenix saw a record 113 consecutive days At temperatures above 100 degrees.

And in 2021, an heat dome provoked Oregon, Washington and other parts Initial summer northwestHundreds of deaths produce.

Last month, almost every part of the world was affected by comprehensive warming.

According to the National Integrated Heat Health Information System, “May 2025 may be the second hottest on record.” “Temperatures … were much hotter than average in some parts of every continent.”