By Umar Farooq
WASHINGTON (AA) – Extreme weather continued to hit the U.S. East and West coasts Wednesday with flooding ravaging much of the eastern seaboard and fires tearing through the West.
On the East Coast, roughly 37 million people have been under a flood watch for the past week, according to the National Weather Service. The majority are in the mid-Atlantic region.
“A potentially dangerous, even life threatening, situation is setting up for much of the Mid-Atlantic,” the agency said on Twitter, and issues a map that showed heavy rainfall with thunderstorms throughout the region that spans Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York.
Washington D.C. is on track to set a record for most rainfall in a month. On Saturday, the district recorded 4.6 inches of rain, which broke its previous record for daily rainfall set in 1911.
Central Pennsylvania has been hit with severe flooding. Hersheypark amusement park was forced to close its gates for a second time this week due to flash flooding.
Nearly 7 inches of rain (18 centimeters) have hit the Catskill mountain range in upstate New York since Monday, with several other locations in the area receiving 5 inches (13 centimeters).
Rain is expected to continue through the week, with several more inches through Friday.
On the West coast, a heat wave is blanketing nearly 40 million people, with record-breaking temperatures affecting major cities.
Triple-digit temperatures were recorded in places like Las Vegas, Nevada with 112 Fahrenheit (44 Celsius), Palm Springs 119 F (48 C) and Death Valley, California, a whopping 127 F (53 C).
In Phoenix, Arizona, the mercury reached 115 F (46 C) Monday, breaking the previous record, and temperatures are forecast to climb even higher to around 117 F (47 C) later this week.
The hot weather has fueled wildfires in the state of California, with the Ferguson fire in Yosemite National Park forcing visitors to evacuate. Two of the park’s most popular areas, Yosemite Valley and Wawona, have closed due to the fires.
A mandatory evacuation notice was issued Wednesday for the Lushmeadows area in Mariposa County, California, warning residents to immediately evacuate the area.
The Ferguson fire burned nearly 39,000 areas.
