PHOENIX (AP) — Extreme heat spread across Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Texas, Colorado and Kansas as severe weather swept across many parts of the U.S. on Sunday.
There was unseasonable cold in the Pacific Northwest, snow headed to the northern Rocky Mountains and heavy rainfall forecast from the northern Plains to the Upper Midwest. The National Weather Service that more than 63 million people were under heat advisories on Sunday, stretching from the Southwest northward up through Denver and into Chicago. Temperatures in Phoenix, which hit 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.
4 Celsius) on Saturday, were expected to reach close to that on Sunday. Weather service forecasters say the first two weeks of June in Phoenix already have been an average of 5.6 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than normal, making it the hottest start to June on record.
“We have already seen some pretty significantly high temperatures in our area,” said Ted Whittock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix. “We are recommending that everyone reduce their time outdoors between 10 a.m.
and 6 p.m., stay hydrated and wear light, looser fitting clothing.
” Whittock said the heat in metro Phoenix will ease a bit Monday through Wednesday, with the highs pushing back up as the week progresses, likely prompting another excessive heat warning. The heat has been especially dangerous in recent years in metro Phoenix, where from heat-related causes in 2023 — a record. The city and Maricopa County.