Blistering heat was expected to spread across a vast portion of the Western United States on Friday and through the weekend, with temperatures soaring into the 90s and even to over 120 degrees from the deserts of Arizona and California to the rolling plains of Montana.
The forecast showed the heat peaking in many places on Saturday and Sunday, when afternoon temperatures could rise as high as 103 in Sacramento, 105 in Salt Lake City, 115 in Las Vegas and 117 in Palm Springs, according to the National Weather Service.
San Francisco, where coastal fog has brought cool weather for much of the summer, was poised reach 77 degrees this weekend, which is several degrees above typical temperatures for August. Away from the Pacific Ocean, inland areas of the Bay Area could see temperatures in the triple digits.
The Weather Service issued extreme heat warnings across Southern California, Arizona and southern Nevada and Utah, where some of the highest temperatures were expected. The warnings said the weather would bring an increased risk of heat-related illnesses.
The sweltering weather will arrive as a heat dome shifts from the Southern United States to the West. This area of high pressure in the atmosphere traps warm air at the ground, and it was centered over southern Nevada and Southern California on Friday.
While the heat wave will be dangerous for some, meteorologists said it was unlikely to be an extraordinary event. Weather gauges across the region aren’t expected to set new all-time records for the highest temperatures since record keeping began for specific locations. In Death Valley, Calif., the high could reach 123 degrees on Sunday, several degrees off from the highest reliably recorded temperature of 130 degrees measured there.
Dan Berc, a meteorologist with the Weather Service in Las Vegas, said the heat dome would need to be centered over Death Valley for the record there to be broken.
While new extremes aren’t expected this weekend, dozens of daily records could be shattered. These records fall more commonly than monthly or all-time records because there are 365 opportunities each year.
Flagstaff, Ariz., was forecast to reach 94 degrees on Saturday, surpassing its record of 92 degrees set in 1977, while Sheridan, Wyo., was expected to reach 106 on Saturday, topping its record of 103 set in 2008.
While tying a single heat wave to climate change requires analysis, scientists have no doubt that heat waves around the world are becoming hotter and more frequent and are lasting longer.
The World Meteorological Organization confirmed in March 2025 that 2024 was the hottest year on record and the first year to be more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial era. Last year was the third hottest year on record, making the past 11 years the 11 hottest.
Oregon, Washington and far Northern California will be spared from the worst of this heat event. Temperatures were forecast to be warm and in the 70s to the 90s on Friday, but they will drop over the weekend as a storm system over the Pacific Ocean pushes cooler air inland.
“They get warm temperatures for a day or two, but they don’t get the excessive heat,” said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
The cooler air over Oregon and Washington will spread east by Monday, bringing temperatures in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming down to the 70s and 80s.
The post The Western United States Is Facing a Weekend of Record Heat appeared first on New York Times.
