Central, Eastern US To See Record Heat Through Tuesday

A heat wave will slowly ripple across the country during the next few days, spreading record highs to the mid-Atlantic by early next week.

Slow-Moving Sizzle

A​ zone of sinking air moving eastward at a turtle's pace began in the West earlier last week and is responsible for record highs to fall from coast-to-coast. This zone of high pressure will amplify this weekend as it nears the East Coast, meaning more heat is on the way.

The map below shows all the potential record daily highs that could fall through Tuesday.

Weekend To Next Week

The heat will shift eastward across the country with temperatures growing by up to 30 degrees in some parts of the Northeast by next Tuesday.

Some 90s are possible into this weekend in parts of the Central and Southern Plains, potentially as far north as Nebraska. Daily record highs are possible in Omaha, Kansas City and Wichita. Eventually, high temperatures in the 80s will cover most of the East. Beginning Sunday and lasting until Tuesday, 90s are possible for the mid-Atlantic and even some major Northeast cities, where more daily records could fall. A couple of daily records could even fall on Wednesday.

That is not ideal for the final day of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

(MAPS: 10-Day US Forecast Highs/Lows)

Records So Far

O​n Mother's Day, Reno, Nevada, soared to its first 90s of the year, setting a daily record high of 92 degrees. Death Valley tied its daily record of 112 degrees on Sunday. Appropriately named Thermal, California, reached 108 degrees, tying its record set in 2025.

On Monday, Las Vegas set a new daily record after topping out at 104 degrees. Salt Lake City and Reno both set a daily record at 92 degrees. And Casper, Wyoming, even set a new daily record at 85 degrees.

Tuesday was the peak of the intense heat across the West, and even more daily records fell. Las Vegas' 104 degrees was a daily record, and so was Death Valley's 116 degrees. Other records include Safford, Arizona (102), Lancaster Fox Field, California (98), Boise, Idaho (96), Grand Junction, Colorado (94), Salt Lake City, Utah (93), Reno, Nevada ( 91) and Seattle (82), among others.

Wednesday brought some more daily records being tied or broken. Some notable ones were Amarillo, Texas (98), Billings, Montana (94), Rapid City, South Dakota (93), Elko, Nevada (93), Casper, Wyoming (92) and several others.

Thursday brought daily records for Childress, Texas (101), Dodge City, Kansas (98) and Clayton, New Mexico (91), among others.

Friday brought daily records for Childress, Texas (105), Lincoln, Nebraska (95), St. Joseph, Missouri (93), Wichita, Kansas (93), Hot Springs Memorial Field, Arkansas (91), among others.

R​elief?

W​hy, yes there in fact!

T​he cold front responsible for the severe storms across the Central Plains will shift east and bring temperatures that are actually below average for parts of the Central and Eastern US. It will start in the Central Plains and bring temperatures down for the East by the end of next week.

(​MORE: Severe Storms)

T​emperatures will begin to warm back for the Central US this weekend and could reach above average for the week after, so enjoy these actual spring temperatures because summer will be here before you know it.

Rob Shackelford is a meteorologist and climate scientist at weather.com. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Georgia studying meteorology and experimenting with alternative hurricane forecasting tools.