Wednesday, July 01, 2026

A massive "mega heat dome" is spreading across the United States, placing 35 states and nearly 200 million people under dangerous heat

Are you one of the millions of Americans trapped in a 'heat dome?'

Track extreme heat alerts with this interactive map
By Casey MillerJuly 1, 20263:12 AM MST Updated 2 hours ago

A hot and dry wave of high pressure, dubbed a "heat dome" by weather forecasters, is expected to raise temperatures to dangerous levels across the Eastern half of the United States over the Independence Day weekend.
Explore the weather system's size and scale using this interactive map, which plots the areas covered by the latest watches, warnings and advisories issued by the U.S. National Weather Service.

What are heat alerts?

The National Weather Service issues its warnings in three escalating tiers

Extreme Heat Warning

The highest tier — issued when extremely dangerous heat is happening or imminent.

Extreme Heat Watch

Flags likely danger over the next two to three days when intensity is still uncertain.

Heat Advisory

The lowest tier — elevated but not extreme heat is possible.

Extreme heat will also greet fans and players this week at the World Cup, as the heat dome settles over the central and eastern United States - plus parts of Canada - as the knockout rounds progress

Editing by Ben Welsh; Watches, warnings and alerts are from the National Digital Forecast Database published by the US National Weather Service. Population estimates were calculated by crossreferencing the areas covered by alerts with the LandScan global dataset published by the Oak Ridge National Labratory. In cases where an area was covered by more than one alert, the population was allocated to the most severe tier.

Awesome Videos

rspodeotSnt791701fah2g5282aa3ihtt2i0gmclam811396lhff600063m8

A massive "mega heat dome" is spreading across the United States, placing 35 states and nearly 200 million people under dangerous heat as forecasters warn of life-threatening conditions through the week.

The combined high-pressure systems are expected to push temperatures and humidity to extreme levels, with heat index values topping 105°F across parts of the Midwest, South, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast. Major cities, including New York City, could approach 100°F, while warm overnight temperatures may offer little relief, increasing the risk of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Meteorologists are urging people to stay hydrated, avoid strenuous outdoor activity during peak afternoon hours, check on vulnerable family members and neighbors, and never leave children or pets inside parked vehicles.

#HeatDome #Heatwave #ExtremeHeat #WeatherAlert #USAWeather #Climate #Summer 

Business
31 mins agoUS June private payrolls growth misses expectations; layoffs decline
U.S. private payrolls increased less than expected in June, but a sharp decline in planned layoffs pointed to stable ​labor market conditions last month.
1 hour agoFed's Warsh: Will decide on rate hike when policymakers 'shut the door' at next meeting
37 mins agoNike gains as margin outlook tempers concerns over pace of recovery
39 mins agoWall St dips as US-Iran tensions weigh on sentiment
1 hour agoUS manufacturing activity eases in June; prices paid by factories remain elevated
13 mins agoGeneral Mills beats quarterly estimates on steady staples demand, higher prices
26 mins agoVimeo owner Bending Spoons likely to open 14% above IPO price in Nasdaq debut
12 mins agoSwedish court orders Google to pay $1.5 billion to Klarna in antitrust damages
1 hour agoMicron, GM sign semiconductor supply agreement for vehicles
14 mins agoGM's second-quarter US auto sales fall 4%
2 hours agoKroger to buy grocer Giant Eagle in $1.65 billion deal as competition heats up
32 mins agoUS construction spending inches up in May, but homebuilding weak
Businesscategory·1 hour ago
Meta building cloud business to sell excess AI capacity, Bloomberg News reports
Meta Platforms is building a cloud business ​to sell excess AI computing capacity, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, as ‌tech giants seek returns on costly AI investments amid worries about overspending.
Businesscategory·2 hours ago
Trump on financial disclosures: Everyone's profiting because stock market is up
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he had nothing ​to do with his personal finances, a day ‌after he reported more than $1.4 billion in income from his family's crypto ventures.
Legalcategory·1 hour ago
CMA CGM to buy FedEx third-party logistics arm in $1.4 billion deal
French shipping group CMA CGM has agreed to acquire FedEx's third-party logistics business ​for an enterprise value of $1.4 billion, it ‌said on Wednesday, as it seeks to expand its presence in the logistics sector and in the United ​States.
Autos & Transportationcategory·4 hours ago
US car sales on cruise control despite pressures
Automakers on Wednesday are expected to report steady second-quarter U.S. vehicle sales, despite what normally would be ​a bleak backdrop for the car business.
Legalcategory·1 hour ago
Activist investors make bigger push for campaigns in H1, seek more M&A
Activist investors pushed global companies more aggressively in the second quarter to make changes and lifted the overall pace of campaigns in the first half of 2026, ​Barclays data showed, as their biggest demand was for businesses to sell themselves in a rebounding deal market.
Technologycategory·1 hour ago
Wayve courts automakers with AI driving system that learns like humans
Autonomous-driving startup Wayve is riding a tide of investor interest.
Legalcategory·31 mins ago
Goldman Sachs names Bosworth as acting general counsel
Goldman Sachs on Wednesday named Michael Bosworth as acting general ​counsel and a member of its ‌core executive leadership team, replacing Kathryn Ruemmler, who stepped down from the role from ​June 30.
1 hour ago
Startup Oxmiq raises $35 million to build chip architecture to lower cost of AI
Artificial intelligence startup Oxmiq said on Wednesday it raised $35 million from investors in order to build chip ​design architecture and software that will lower the cost of ‌building and running AI applications.

2026 is almost halfway over. At noon tomorrow, July 2, the year will reach its midpoint.

From Quarks to Quasars

Because 2026 is a common year, it has 365 days. Half of that is 182.5 days, which puts the exact midpoint at 12pm on July 2.

But the midpoint of a calendar year is not the same as the midpoint of Earth’s orbit.

Our calendar is built around the tropical year, the time it takes Earth to return to the same point in the seasonal cycle. That cycle lasts about 365.24 days, which is why leap years exist.

Without leap years, the calendar would slowly drift away from the seasons by roughly one day every four years.

The Gregorian calendar corrects for that drift by adding February 29 in most years divisible by four, while skipping some century years to keep the system closer to Earth’s actual motion.

2026 is not a leap year, so the year cannot split cleanly at midnight. Its midpoint falls halfway through a day.

There is another complication: Earth does not move around the Sun at a perfectly constant speed. Its orbit is slightly elliptical, so the planet moves faster near perihelion in early January and slower near aphelion in early July.

That means the calendar’s halfway point is a mathematical marker, not a perfect halfway point in orbital distance.

In 2026, the midpoint arrives just as Earth is near its farthest point from the Sun.

Go there > Ten years on, the real reason why so many Britons regret Brexit | Niall Ferguson @nfergus

HERE IS THE LINK: open.substack.com/pub/niallfergu

REFERENCES

Niall Ferguson

@nfergus

21h

Replying to @nfergus

https://open.substack.com/pub/niallferguson/p/why-britons-really-regret-brexit?r=2szwr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Niall Ferguson's Time Machine

Niall Ferguson's Time Machine applies historical perspective to contemporary problems in economics and politics, because the further back you look, the further ahead you can see.

Over 73,000 subscribers