The US National Weather Service early Wednesday said a majority of central and eastern US is expected to experience the intensification of dangerous, record-breaking heat this week, with heat value indices likely to exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Meanwhile, portions of the Four Corners and Great Basin are expected to experience continued critical fire weather conditions.
Parts of the region stretching from the central High Plains into the Upper Midwest, and across parts of the Northeast are likely to encounter severe thunderstorms.
The NWS early Wednesday issued a red flag warning for Utah's Bluff, Blanding, Moab, and Monticello, which primarily fall under the service area of PacifiCorp's Rocky Mountain Power.
A similar warning was raised for Colorado's Rifle, Vail, Grand Junction, Aspen, Montrose, Gunnison, Nucla, Buena Vista, Cortez, Durango, Lake City, Alamosa, Telluride, Leadville, Creede, Wolf Creek Pass, Saguache, South Fork, Salida, San Luis, Trinidad, Kim, La Junta, Pikes Peak, Canon City, Colorado Springs, Fairplay, Castle Rock, and Georgetown. An immediate evacuation notice was issued for certain pockets between West Cliff and Pueblo. Xcel Energy and Black Hills (BKH) unit Black Hills Energy are the primary electricity service providers in Colorado.
The NWS issued extreme heat warning for the entirety of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois.
The Ohio-based subsidiaries of American Electric Power (AEP) and AES (AES), FirstEnergy (FE) units Ohio Edison, Toledo Edison, and The Illuminating Company, and Duke Energy (DUK) are among the major service providers in Ohio. Indiana is primarily served by Duke Energy, AEP subsidiary Indiana Michigan Power, NiSource (NI) unit Northern Indiana Public Service Company, AES unit AES Indiana, and CenterPoint Energy (CNP).
Ameren's (AEE) Illinois unit and Exelon (EXC) subsidiary ComEd are among the major service providers in Illinois, while Kentucky is primarily served by PPL (PPL) subsidiary Louisville Gas and Electric & Kentucky Utilities, AEP unit Kentucky Power, and Duke Energy among others.
Affected areas in Iowa included Fort Dodge, Waterloo, Ames, Marshalltown, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Osceola, Lamoni, Ottumwa, Iowa City, Dubuque, Davenport, Clinton, and Burlington. Berkshire Hathaway Energy unit MidAmerican Energy and Alliant Energy (LNT) are primary service providers in the state.
Also covered under an extreme heat warning watch were Missouri's Rockport, Grant City, Maryville, Bethany Trenton, Kirksville, St. Joseph, Plattsburg, Chillicothe, Carrollton, Moberly, Macon, Boonville, Sedalia, Clinton, Buttler, Harrisonville, Warrensburg, Kansas City, Columbia, Jefferson City, Centerville, Poplar Bluff, Sikeston, Cape Girardeau, and St. Louis. Evergy (EVRG), Ameren's Missouri unit, and Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) subsidiary Liberty are the major service providers in Missouri.
The NWS issued also issued an extreme heat warning for Michigan's Ludington, Holland, Pentwater, Kalamazoo, Big Rapids, Clare, Mount Pleasant, Muskegon, Alma, Ionia, Grand Rapids, Flint, Hastings, South Haven, Lansing, Jackson, Benton Harbour, Cold Water, Ann Harbour, Bad Axe, Saginaw, Detroit, and Port Huron. CMS Energy (CMS) unit Consumers Energy, and DTE Energy (DTE) are among the major service providers in these places.
Wisconsin's Wisconsin Dells, Sheboygan, Beaver Dam, Madison, Janesville, Mineral Point, Kenosha, and Milwaukee were also placed under a similar warning. WEC Energy Group's (WEC) Wisconsin Public Service, Xcel Energy, and Alliant Energy are among the major service providers in the state.
In the Northeast, the NWS issued an extreme heat warning for the entirety of New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
Eversource Energy (ES), National Grid (NGG), Exelon unit Delmarva Power, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) unit Public Service Electric & Gas, FirstEnergy (FE) subsidiary Jersey Central Power & Light, Avangrid unit The United Illuminating Company, Unitil, PPL subsidiary Rhode Island Energy are among the major service providers in these states.
Warnings for extreme heat were also issued for large portions of Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, New Hampshire, and parts of Maryland, Vermont, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Maine, Kansas, and small pockets of Arkansas.
The NWS also issued severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of South Dakota and Iowa, while flood warnings were raised for certain areas in Illinois, Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Arkansas.