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Capital Weather Gang

Record heat, fire danger plague West after hottest summer on record for U.S.

A siege of dry lightning could ignite new blazes in Northern California and Oregon into Friday

By
and 
September 9, 2021 at 5:34 p.m. EDT
Forecast highs in the West on Thursday from the National Weather Service. Boxed values indicate record highs predicted. (WeatherBell)

Heat waves punished the West all summer and, even at the brink of fall, another sweltering blast had moved over the region. The heat was bringing record-setting temperatures in the Southwest and exacerbating a volatile fire situation farther north.

The heat wave, which began early this week before peaking Thursday, coincided with an announcement from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that the months of June through August matched the Dust Bowl summer of 1936 as the hottest on record for the Lower 48 states. “A record 18.4% of the contiguous U.S. experienced record-warm temperatures,” NOAA wrote Thursday.