‘Sauna-like’ heat dome is set to smother 50 MILLION Americans with temperatures exceeding 100f

‘Sauna-like’ heat dome is set to smother 50 MILLION Americans with temperatures exceeding 100f that are up to 20f higher than June average, as Georgia and the Carolinas brace for record warmth

• Americans are being told to brace themselves for another week of record-breaking temperatures
• A ‘heat dome’ is created when atmospheric pressure forms a lid over an area, preventing radiation from escaping but still allowing the sun’s rays in
• This week the heat dome caused record temperatures in Tennessee, Missouri and Nebraska, and saw the power grid collapse in the Ohio capital, Columbus
• Next week the dome will cover 50 million people, with Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina particularly affected
• Atlanta is looking at a forecast of 98 degrees on Tuesday and 100 on Wednesday and Thursday, while Macon could see highs around 102 or 103 degrees
• It means that Atlanta will break records set during the Second World War, and Macon’s records set in 1925 
• Forecasters say the heat dome will remain over the United States for the next week or two 

By Harriet Alexander For Dailymail.com

Published: 00:23 EDT, 18 June 2022 | Updated: 00:25 EDT, 18 June 2022

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Fifty million Americans will be sweltering under ‘sauna-like’ temperatures this coming week, as a ‘heat dome’ that has been over the country all week looks set to stick around.

The heat dome is created by atmospheric pressure effectively creating a lid over the country. Radiation is unable to escape, but the sun’s rays can still get through, creating intense heat on land.

Most affected will be Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia.

In Georgia, Atlanta on Wednesday looks to break the temperature record set during the Second World War, with the mercury past 100F.

In Macon, meanwhile, a record set in 1925 may well be broken.

‘High temperatures alone (but more certainly heat indexes) Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday could necessitate Heat Advisories across portions of the area,’ wrote the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City, Georgia. 

The forecast for Wednesday, June 22, shows vast swathes of the United States with extremely high temperatures

Water tubers cool off in New Braunfels, Texas, on Friday

Texans sought relief in the Comal River on Friday, amid temperatures pushing 100 degrees

Women sunbathe in their bikinis in Central Park on Friday, amid 88 degree temperatures in the city

People in Manhattan’s Central Park are seen on Friday enjoying the hot sunshine

New Yorkers enjoy the beach at Coney Island on Friday, on one of the hottest days of the year so far

The 100 degree temperatures and Gulf humidity will make for heat indexes potentially nearing 110 degrees. 

Nashville, Tennessee, is set for another sweltering week, with temperatures of 101 degrees – beating a record set in 1988.

Birmingham, Alabama, could see temperatures soar to 102 degrees on Wednesday and Thursday, while much of the South – Mississippi, Texas, South Carolina and interior Louisiana – will be around 100 degrees for three or more days in a row. 

On Friday, parts of Colorado were placed under a heat advisory

Louisiana was also being exposed to extremes of temperatures, with the orange section under a heat advisory

The extreme heat is thanks to an upper-level ridge, The Washington Post explained – essentially, a crest in the jet stream. 

The ridge pushed high-altitude winds and storminess to the north over Canada and the Great Lakes, with sunshine and high pressure building in to the south. 

High pressure areas bring sinking air, which warms up and dries out.

Forecasters say the heat dome is likely to linger for the next week or two.