Extreme heat warnings issued for tens of millions across US after Chicago broke temperature records with sweltering 97F
The heat is building and the records are tumbling across the nation as summer tightens its grip from Maine to California.
Tens of millions of people are now under extreme heat alerts with thousands of lives at risk from the soaring temperatures.
Chicago broke a 1957 temperature record at a high of 97 degrees on Monday with the city's heat index expected to peak near 100 degrees later this week.
More than 100 cooling centers have been opened around Phoenix, Arizona, including two all-night services, after temperatures hit 112 degrees on Saturday.
A record 645 people were killed by the heat in the city last year, and weather service forecasters say the first two weeks of June were the hottest start to the month there in history.
Residents were struggling to cool off at Chicago's Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures reached a record high of 97 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday
The sun was setting on Phoenix with a temperature of more than 100 Fahrenheit
In Southern California, firefighters increased their containment of a large wildfire in mountains north of Los Angeles on Monday after a weekend of explosive, wind-driven growth along Interstate 5.
And states across the Midwest started to bake on Monday in what the National Weather Service called a dangerous and long duration heat wave that was expected to stretch from Iowa to Maine into at least Friday.
The heat didn't stop people in Chicago's Grant Park from ordering the hottest dishes off the menu at the food truck where Emmanuel Ramos is a cook, WBBM-TV reported.
'They be ordering the hottest stuff on the hottest day,' he said.
'They order ramen, corn — they just want everything hot. I don't know why.
'Right now, something that would be good is the smoothies.'
More than 100 cooling centers have been opened around Phoenix, including two all-night services, after temperatures hit 112 degrees on Saturday.
The US last year saw the most heat waves, consisting of abnormally hot weather lasting more than two days, since 1936.
The warming temperatures come amid growing concern about the effects of extreme heat and wildfire smoke.
The nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity on Monday sent a petition to the Federal Emergency Management Agency asking it to recognize extreme heat and wildfire smoke as major disasters.
A FEMA spokesperson for the western US states said there was nothing that would preclude an emergency declaration for extreme heat, but noted that there would need to be an immediate threat to life and safety that local authorities could not respond to.
Homes were gutted near Pyramid Lake, in Gorman, Los Angeles County, as wildfires spread
The Point Fire in California's Sonoma County cast a menacing glow as it spread in the night
A CalFire helicopter struggled to contain the blaze outside Healdsburg on Monday
While much of the country swelters, late-season snow was forecast for the northern Rockies on Monday into Tuesday.
Parts of Montana and north-central Idaho were under a winter storm warning. As much as 20 inches (51 centimeters) was predicted for higher elevations around Glacier National Park.
Meanwhile, a fresh batch of tropical moisture was bringing an increasing threat of heavy rain and flash flooding to the central Gulf Coast.
Hurricane season this year is forecast to be among the most active in recent memory.
