Nearly 9.5 million people across the U.S. Southwest face extreme high temperatures, as an ongoing heat wave continues to topple records and raise the risk of wildfires as far away as the Great Plains. Weather Prediction Center. “The pattern is still going to persist for the foreseeable future with record heat persisting all the way through the end of March,” Robinson Cook said. A massive dome of high pressure has driven up temperatures across the Southwest and threatens to push heat and dry air into the Great Plains, raising the fire threat there. “With patterns like these you don’t want to sleep on the fire weather threat,” Robinson Cook said.

Source: Daily Sun March 23, 2026 09:59 UTC