WASHINGTON: A heatwave and stifling humidity battered the central and eastern United States on Thursday, leaving residents searching for the coolest oasis to fend off record temperatures that have left over 20 dead.
“The dangerous heatwave continues across much of the central and eastern US, with excessive heat and humidity expected to expand into the Ohio Valley and East Coast states for the remainder of the week,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said on its website. The New York Times reported that across the country the deaths of 22 people had been attributed to heatwave, which has left some 17 states
from Texas to Michigan battling temperatures over 100 F (37Celsius).
The weather service has issued excessive heat warnings for those states saying there is a “large ridge of high pressure in the upper levels of the atmosphere… keeping hot temperatures in place.” Weather experts predicted that heat index values across parts of the Midwest, Ohio and mid-Atlantic could reach between 40 and 46C through Friday.
A heat index of 51 C was registered in Iowa, in the central US. In Maryland, near the US capital, weather services reported temperatures of 42 C. On the East Coast, humidity was assaulting Washington.