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2026-07-18 03:52:12
Bob Oravec, a senior forecaster at the U.S. Weather Prediction Center, pointed out that approximately 151 million people were again affected by high temperatures on Friday, stretching from the northern Rocky Mountains in the north to the mid-Atlantic region in the east, and south to the Gulf Coast. He explained that thick smoke from wildfires originating in Canada covered large areas of the Northeast, the mid-Atlantic, and the Midwest, affecting about 87 million Americans on Friday due to declining air quality. In addition, about 70 million people were simultaneously impacted by the combined effects of smoke and high temperatures, bringing the total number of Americans facing multiple threats from wildfire smoke, extreme heat, or flooding to approximately 180 million.
