PARTS of the western US will once again face another punishing heatwave just as over 16 million people faced triple-digit temperatures during the last three heat waves that rampaged the region.
The central and northern Rockies are expected to get the brunt of the heat, which will bake the western coasts of the US and Canada this weekend, bringing with it dangerous heat in an area already experiencing drought and forest fires.
The fourth heat wave in just five weeks is expected to break records across the coasts in both countries and specifically target areas that have recently experienced wildfires, which would proliferate the drier, hotter conditions that lead to increased wildfires in the first place.
This week alone, Las Vegas hit a record-tie of 117 degrees, barely two weeks after a 1000-year heat event brought record highs of 108, 116, and 121 degrees in Seattle, Portland and Lytton, Canada, respectively.
Although this fourth wave won't be as hot as the one that just passed through the Pacific Northwest, experts have warned it will be painfully hot nonetheless.
Scientists and activists have been sounding the alarms of increased climate change, with scientists saying the 1000-year heat event that ravaged the Northwest would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change.
Montana is under excessive heat watch starting Saturday through Wednesday, with temperatures ranging from 106 during the day and falling below 70 at night, which is still big in itself as summer nights carry a high of around mid-50s.
Records in Helena, Montana date back to 1880, yet there has never been a recorded time where three or more consecutive days have hit over 100 degrees, as is expected this weekend.
“Some forecast models have temperatures warming to between 105 and 110 in a few locations, so extreme heat remains possible,” wrote the Great Falls National Weather Service.
In Seattle, temperatures are expected to top at 100 degrees for the 15th time this year, which is on par to reach the city's record of 21 100-degree days in a year.
A sweltering 120 degrees is expected all day, every day in Death Valley, California.
These severe weather occurrences are reason to worry just as the region combats intense drought and wildfires.
Seven active blazes in the region have already torched more than 50,000 acres, with the Bootleg Fire in Oregon blazing through more than 212,000 acres alone.
With intense weather bringing with it high heat and low humidity, the fires are likely to spread as it sucks even more moisture out of the landscape.
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