The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has given Americans a heads-up to brace for potentially unprecedented heat over the coming months.
Following record-shattering temperatures and heat-induced fatalities in the summer of 2023, the agency’s latest seasonal outlook anticipates a sweltering June through August for a vast swath of the country.
Forecasters at NOAA are projecting above-average warmth for nearly the entire U.S., putting at least 20 states, from the Northeast to the Midwest, in the crosshairs of the heat.
The agency’s analysis points to the El Nino phenomenon — marked by unusually warm water movement in the Pacific Ocean — as the primary driver behind the temperature spikes, ushering in drier and hotter air, particularly to the northern regions of the U.S.
Certain areas, including the northern Great Plains, parts of the Midwest, southeastern New Mexico and West Texas, could see increases of 1.8 to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.
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