"This will be the single strongest ridge we've observed outside of summer in any month. This is not a day or two of extreme heat. We've already in some of these places been seeing record highs every day for a week, and we expect to see them every day for another at least seven to 10 days."
"These two unrelated phenomena could set the stage for a long stretch of unpredictable and extreme weather reaching into next year, compounding the effects of a climate that's getting hotter and hotter thanks to human activity."
Despite 2025 being the third-hottest year on record, the United States experienced relatively few major climate disasters, with no significant hurricanes making landfall and wildfire acreage falling below the 10-year average. However, the West is now entering a record-breaking heat wave beginning this week, driven by a massive high-pressure ridge. The National Weather Service predicts temperature records will be broken across multiple states from California to Tennessee, with heat and fire warnings issued across the region. Climate scientist Daniel Swain notes this represents the strongest ridge observed outside of summer in any month, with temperatures expected to break records daily for at least seven to ten days, extending into late March with temperatures potentially breaking April and May records.
Read at WIRED
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]