Millions of households up and down the East Coast are preparing for an unusual burst of springtime heat, with temperatures running roughly 20 to 30 degrees above what’s normal for this time of year.
Thermometers have already surged into the upper 80s and even the mid-90s in some areas, and forecasters say the hot spell should hang on through the weekend before easing on Sunday.
On Wednesday, a number of large metro areas—including New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Providence in Rhode Island, and Raleigh, North Carolina—climbed to more than 20 degrees above the typical seasonal mark of around 60, according to AccuWeather.
“The peak of the warmth in most places across the Northeast is on Wednesday afternoon. Even areas right along the water can expect temperatures well above the historic average for mid-April on Wednesday,” said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Matt Benz.
Conditions like this are more typical of summer than mid-April, reports The Mirror, giving residents an early preview of the kind of heat more commonly expected later in the year.
Meteorologists attribute the spike to a Bermuda High—a large, semi-permanent high-pressure system over the North Atlantic that can funnel warm, humid air into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast—according to the Weather Prediction Center.
The heat is affecting a wide swath of the country, with more than 20 states in its path. In response, officials have issued various heat-related alerts, citing possible health impacts and, in some locations, an elevated wildfire threat.
“Early-season heat can hit harder than people expect because it arrives before routines, clothing and outdoor plans have adjusted to summer-like conditions,” Benz warned.
AccuWeather meteorologist Alex Sosnowski also pointed to heightened fire danger, saying: “The combination of sunshine, gusty breezes and dry air will create near-ideal conditions for ignition and rapid fire spread.”
New Jersey has already seen how quickly flames can move under these kinds of conditions. The state dealt with multiple wildfires last weekend that proved difficult to contain as heat and dryness built. One comparatively small fire spanning roughly 50 acres was still only 40% contained, as crews faced more challenging-than-usual control efforts.
Bill Donnelly, state fire warden and chief of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, said the outlook could signal a demanding stretch ahead, warning there is ‘potential’ for ‘quite a busy fire season,’ which typically runs from mid-March to mid-May in the Garden State.
Forecasters also say the heat could put a significant number of records in reach—more than 150 in total—before temperatures retreat closer to seasonal norms early next week.