AccuWeather's Long-Range Expert Joe Lundberg looks ahead to the early start of August when sizzling heat is expected to bake the Plains and Deep South regions of the United States.

A major heat wave is currently affecting the central United States, with temperatures reaching into the 90s and even triple digits in some areas. This pattern is driven by a strong upper-level ridge of high pressure, particularly impacting states such as Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. 

While the midsection of the country continues to experience prolonged heat, the northeast is expected to see some cooling relief as a front moves through. The upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions may face several rounds of thunderstorms, some of which could be severe and bring the risk of flash flooding. Toward the start of August, a shift in weather patterns is likely to bring further relief to the eastern half of the country, with the possibility of record low temperatures in the northeast.

Tracking scorching heat heading into August

We wanted to talk a little bit about the big picture here as we look ahead to the big heat and maybe Eventually a little bit of relief for some so what are you tracking right now as we look at the next week? Jeff the um The big story right now is the building of the heat that's going to be spreading into the east over the next couple of days Then there'll be a front that'll come through that'll squash that heat but in the nation's mid section You're going to see the heat just continuing day after day after day a lot of 90s And some triple digit heat is this upper level ridge of high pressure is really Part and partial of the big part of the pattern over the top of it You're going to see these disturbances that come down and they'll produce rounds of thunderstorms That can have some severe weather and some flooding downpours again behind the front that comes through the northeast It looks like you'll get some cooling relief in the northeast. That's the overall picture right now I kind of focus in on the end of the weekend at the beginning of next week for the upper midwest And over into portions of the great lakes This area is going to see those disturbances come over the top of the ridge in producing several rounds of thunderstorms Some of it may be severe and there is of course the risk of flash flooding, especially with the repeated rainfall So that's where we are right now All right, the shoe certainly fits with that big picture as we recognize weather patterns, uh, the perfect area To look for strong thunderstorms complexes that will ride along the northeastern northeastern fringe of our big heat dome As we track the evolution of the upper level flow Will there be any relief and how's this gonna how will it get worse before it gets better in some spots? Take a look at where the center of this area of high pressure aloft is going to be It's basically in the heartland, you know, mid mississippi valley, missouri, arkansas, kansas, oklahoma That's where it's going to be over the next couple of days Notice that with time it kind of migrates a little bit farther to the west and kind of trace the jet stream out over top Of it. That's why we see this these disturbances coming on through but then it goes farther to the west and southwest But the pattern amplifies the ridge gets even more stout up in here Which means a deeper upper level trough and that sets the pattern not for the middle of next week But toward the end of next week and really the first five days of august You're going to see that trough pushing down across the eastern half of the country and with it You're going to see notable relief from the dakotas all the way to the northeast There may be some record lows possible in the northeast believe it or not

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