Heat wave pushes Pittsburgh toward 100 degrees

Allegheny County has issued a Code Red heat advisory as Pittsburgh and Southwest Pennsylvania brace for a late-June heat wave that could push temperatures close to 100 degrees later this week.

The city of Pittsburgh opened five public cooling centers in response to the heat, according to local reporting. Forecasters expect highs to climb into the 90s starting Tuesday and rise to near 100 degrees by Thursday or Friday.

The advisory comes as temperatures are expected to stay above 90 degrees through Sunday, making the next several days especially dangerous for residents without air conditioning and for other vulnerable people who may need relief from the heat.

Heat response

Code Red advisories are used to warn that extreme heat can endanger people and strain health systems and infrastructure. Cooling centers are one of the main public options for residents who need access to air conditioning during a heat emergency.

Allegheny County issued the advisory Monday, and the city activated its cooling centers as the heat intensified across the region.

Bigger pattern

The weather setup is part of a larger heat dome over the eastern half of the United States. The Associated Press reported the same day that the broader heat wave was spreading east, with communities opening cooling centers and parts of the Midwest already seeing heat indexes above 100.

What remains unclear is how long the heat dome will last and whether local officials will extend or expand their response if the temperatures stay elevated beyond Sunday.