Richmond is experiencing its hottest days of the year this week
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Richmonders will experience the hottest days of the year so far for the next three days.
Driving the news: Thursday through Saturday, the forecasted temperature will be in the upper 90s with the heat index hitting triple-digits each day, NBC12 reports.
Why it matters: Richmond is under a heat advisory through Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service, and moves to an excessive heat watch for Friday and Saturday.
- For a heat advisory, the heat index needs to hit 105°F for at least three hours.
- For an excessive heat watch, the heat index reaches 110°F.
Under an advisory, people should limit their time outdoors, and sensitive populations should use caution, according to the NWS.
- For a watch, all outdoor activities should be suspended, and folks who don't have air conditioning should find a cooling shelter.
The city will have two cooling shelters open from 11am-6pm through Saturday: Social Services Marshall Plaza Building downtown on Marshall and the Southside Community Service Center on Hull.
- City libraries are also open for cooling needs every Monday through Saturday from 10am-5pm.
What's happening: The heat wave that has hammered the Southwest for weeks expanded into the Great Plains, Midwest and Northeast on Wednesday, triggering heat alerts for over 161 million people, Axios' Jacob Knutson reports.
- Heat events are the top annual weather-related killer in the U.S., especially when they persist over a long period of time, as the current heat wave has in many locations.
Be smart: The extreme, record-breaking heat that has recently broiled the U.S. and Europe would have been "virtually impossible" without human-caused climate change, according to a new study published earlier this week.