Heat Wave May Threaten World’s Hottest Temp. Record
* Published: June 26th, 2013 , Last Updated: June 27th, 2013
Andrew Freedman By Andrew Freedman
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect new forecast information on Thursday, June 27.
A brutal and potentially historic heat wave is in store for the West as parts of Nevada, Arizona and California may get dangerously hot temperatures starting Thursday and lasting through next week. In fact, by the end of the heat wave, we may see a record tied or broken for the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth.
The furnace-like heat is coming courtesy of a “stuck” weather pattern that is setting up across the U.S. and Canada. By midweek next week, the jet stream — a fast-moving river of air at airliner altitudes that is responsible for steering weather systems — will form the shape of a massive, slithering snake with what meteorologists refer to as a deep “ridge” across the Western states, and an equally deep trough seting up across the Central and Eastern states.
