Record-Breaking Heat Wave Targets 2,000-Mile Stretch Of U.S.

ACROSS AMERICA — Are you yearning for winter's end and spring's arrival? Brace yourself: The coming days throughout much of the country are liable to skip right over spring and go straight to scorching heat and triple-digit temperatures.

A heat wave challenging records in numerous states will target a 2,000-mile stretch of the country later this week, according to AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

While cities in Texas have felt the heat since last weekend, Midwestern cities including Des Moines, Chicago and St. Louis will sizzle this week. The unseasonable warmth is also expected to make its way to the Northeast coast, reaching all the way to Caribou, Maine, according to AccuWeather.

States as far north as Iowa, South Dakota and Wisconsin could see temperatures climb into the 90s. Venture outside, though, and it will likely feel more like 100 degrees, forecasters say.

The reason behind the record-breaking heat: a traffic jam in the atmosphere, according to AccuWeather meteorologists.

"A massive northward buckle in the jet stream has developed in response to stalled storm off the East Coast," AccuWeather senior meteorologist Brett Anderson said. "As the jet stream buckle builds, heat will expand northeastward through the Mississippi Valley to parts of the Great Lakes region by midweek and then on to the St. Lawrence Valley in the Northeast later in the week."

The heat is expected to topple records set in the 19th and 20th centuries, forecasters say.

The National Weather Service's short-range forecast agrees. According to the NWS Weather Prediction Center, summer-like heat will move through the central and southern Plains on Tuesday before expanding northward into the northern Plains and upper Midwest by Thursday.

The combination of heat and dry conditions is expected to heighten the fire risk from northern Arizona to central Oklahoma and Kansas, according to NWS forecasters. Gusty winds that will develop Tuesday will help fuel the fire potential, especially from the Four Corners region to the central and southern High Plains.