Overview
- The heat shifted east on Saturday with new March records in Kansas City, Missouri, and North Platte, Nebraska, each reaching 33.3°C, according to the National Weather Service.
- Temperatures hit 44.4°C along the California–Arizona border on Friday, a national March record reported by the National Weather Service.
- Weather services issued extreme-heat alerts for desert areas and warned of elevated wildfire risk across parts of the central Plains, including Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
- Palm Springs reached about 41.5°C and Phoenix 40.5°C this week, with Arizona's state alerts indicating dangerous conditions through Sunday evening.
- WWA reports that millions are experiencing temperatures up to 17°C above normal and that such early-season extremes are now about four times more likely than a decade ago.