No Relief For Sweltering Southwest

Heat Wave That's Killed 18 In Phoenix Shows No Signs Of Letting Up

(CBS/AP) 
Rainfall, meanwhile, is expected to be below normal in Nevada, Utah and Arizona, much of California as well as southern Oregon, southern Idaho, western Colorado and New Mexico.

The agency warned of drought developing in Arizona and New Mexico, persisting in the Northwest, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming but easing in parts of the central states and Texas.

Above normal rainfall over the next three months is expected for Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and eastern Alabama and Tennessee.

The forecasters noted that over the past week, many cities across the country have set or broken records for daily highs or for high minimum temperatures.

In addition, the heat index values have been particularly high over the East due to very high humidity levels.

According to the forecasters, a strong ridge of high pressure at the upper levels, centered in southeastern Utah, turned up the heat in that region.

“Typically, the warmest temperatures of the year in the southwestern United States occur in June or early July, just before the start of the monsoon season,” Wayne Higgins, principal climate scientist at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center, said in a statement.