The United States started experiencing a number of extreme weather events Monday, many of which have been caught on video.
The weather events range from excessive heat warnings, severe flooding and power outages for potentially hundreds of thousands across the continent, CNN reported. More than 100 million people are currently under excessive heat warnings from Minnesota all the way down to the Florida panhandle, the outlet continued.
Though many of the disasters are occurring thousands of miles apart, they are reportedly connected by the same massive weather pattern across the country, CNN reported. The National Weather Service reported that there are dangerous and record heat warnings in the Midwest to the Southeast, as well as enhanced risks of severe thunderstorms.
Footage of a storm system over Chicago was shared by the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere’s Twitter account. The storm system reportedly cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the Midwest and Ohio River Valley, according to CNN.
Impressive satellite view of the severe storm that trekked through Chicago this evening. pic.twitter.com/KvBx6BT2YS
— CIRA (@CIRA_CSU) June 14, 2022
From the High Plains to the Southwest, elevated to critical fire weather conditions are expected throughout this week, the NWS continued. (RELATED: Wildfires Combine To Create Massive Blaze In Multiple States)
Multiple wildfires were burning Tuesday across the western US, many of which are either not contained at all or are upwards of 70% contained, according to the Statesman Journal. Videos of the Pipeline Fire in northern Arizona were shared on social media Sunday, but the fire remains 0% contained according to the outlet.
NEW VIDEO: new video of the smoke plume in Flagstaff, AZ for the #PipelineFire
Today is a critical wildfire day in Northern AZ
Evacuation orders: Several areas on GO, and more placed on SET pic.twitter.com/wwjwbSZnrM
— Nicole Grigg (@NicoleSGrigg) June 12, 2022
Meanwhile in Montana, Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a “statewide disaster due to flooding” Tuesday via his Twitter account. The flooding in Montana is “rarely or never seen before across many area rivers and streams,” CNN noted in their report.
The Montana National Guard managed to successfully evacuate 12 people who had become stranded in the East Rosebud Lake area of the state, according to their official Twitter account. The state’s Disaster and Emergency Services warned Tuesday that “several roads and bridges” had been severely damaged in the southern areas of Montana.
Videos from around Yellowstone National Park show a house being swept away. The park was forced to close to visitors until at least Wednesday, leaving people living in vicinity of the park trapped without access to safe drinking water, CNN reported in another article.
Dramatic footage captured the moment a house fell into the Yellowstone River and was carried away in rushing water in Gardiner, Montana, on Monday evening. Record flooding and mudslides forced Yellowstone National Park to close its entrances. pic.twitter.com/a2keobFmUq
— KCCI News (@KCCINews) June 14, 2022
Heat kills more Americans than any other type of weather-related disaster, according to the National Weather Service. A majority of deaths from excessive heat occur in urban centers with high population density, the service noted.
The extreme weather events occurring across the country are caused by a “heat dome” that started in the Southwest in early June, CNN noted. “Heat domes” are created by high pressure, which acts as a lid atop the atmosphere; from here, the hot air tries to escape so the lid sinks and pushes more heat onto the surface, the outlet reported.
The “heat dome” also traps any escaping radiation and sends it back to the ground as the sun’s energy continues to penetrate, having potentially significant impacts on the human body, CNN reported. Cities like Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina, St. Louis, Missouri, and Nashville, Tennessee, are seeing new temperature records as a result of the “heat dome,” the outlet reported.
