BOISE, Idaho — More than 59 million Americans lived with excessive heat Wednesday, including here in Idaho.
Temperatures rose above 100 degrees for the 20th time this summer in Boise, tying a record from 2003 when we also saw 20 days that hot.
Idaho might break that record Thursday with current forecast projections, and if not there's a strong chance it could happen before the summer ends.
Extreme heat kills more Americans than any other weather event. An average of 702 people die from heat-related deaths each year in the country.
Boise is one of the fastest warming metropolitan areas of the country — average summer temperatures warming by 5.6 degrees since 1970. The only two U.S. cities warming faster than Boise are Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada.
Related: Warming environmental conditions to continue
Contributions to this trend include a warming climate and the impact of urban growth.
The urban heat island effect here causes concrete structures to absorb and re-emit the suns heat....which makes cities really sizzle when the weather gets hot.
We're also seeing more above normal temperature days over time.
So far in August, every single day has been at or above normal. In July, 25 days were at or above normal temperatures.
