Millions of Americans have never been this hot in October as historic heat wave hits

People cross the road amid hot weather in Covina, California, on Wednesday. Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

CNN — Millions of people in the West are experiencing a dangerous and historic October heatwave with temperatures so extreme they’d be considered hot during the peak of summer.

The heat has been so potent the United States soared to and tied the highest temperature ever seen in the month of October on Tuesday.

At least 125 places from the West Coast to the Rockies have tied or broken all-time October heat records since the month began. Many others have set daily high temperature records.

Unseasonable heat will persist at least into early next week in the West. Thursday, October 3, to Monday, October 7, shown above. CNN Weather

It’s another reminder that extreme heat is no longer confined to the summer as the world warms due to fossil fuel pollution.

“Climate change is causing the length of the heat season to increase and is making… fall heat waves like this more frequent,” Kristina Dahl, a climate scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists said. “If we continue to warm the plant by burning fossil fuels, late-season heat waves like this will become much more common.”

California has been at the epicenter of the extreme heat.

“Climate change is causing the length of the heat season to increase and is making… fall heat waves like this more frequent.”
—Kristina Dahl, Union of Concerned Scientists

Palm Springs soared to 117 degrees on Tuesday and tied the all-time highest October temperature on record for the entire US. It was the hottest reading in the country this late in the year in more than 40 years.

A few locations have been hotter this week than during the summer.

San Jose, California, was one. Thermometers in the city topped out at 102 degrees on July 2, but hit an astounding 106 degrees on Wednesday – 5 degrees higher than the city’s previous warmest October day.

The record-breaking heat began before the calendar flipped to October. Last weekend was part of a sizzling stretch of record-breaking conditions in Las Vegas and Phoenix – two cities where heat has been especially brutal this year.

Five consecutive days of record-breaking September heat in Las Vegas peaked with 104 degree readings on Saturday and Sunday. It was the hottest the city has even been so late in the year.

The heat was and continues to be even more severe and exceptional in Phoenix, which is in the middle of nine consecutive […]

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