We begin tonight with dangerous weather from coast to coast from brutal heat to severe storms. A line of thunderstorms from New York to here in DC across hundreds of flight delays and cancellations. The damage tonight as dark storm clouds rolled in New York City, prompting flash flood alerts. And look at this, heavy rains pouring into the subway during the afternoon commute. It also brought down trees in parts of Brooklyn. And from coast to coast that dangerous heat dome is expanding and growing more intense from Montana to Miami. Two thirds of the nation will experience temperatures above ninety degrees within the next twenty-four hours. The most brutal conditions are in the southwest with the city of Phoenix topping one hundred and ten for twenty sixth straight day.

The numbers are astounding. The impact is heartbreaking. Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, is already confirmed eighteen heat-related deaths this year and is investigating six-nine others. The heat wave is now expanding into Midwest, temperatures in most of the region will above ninety. And wildfire smoke from Canada is once again making air quality unhealthful. Meanwhile, in Europe, temperatures continue to soar. In Greece, an ongoing fire fight. And on the Island of Evia, a plane has just dropped water onto flames, then crashed into the hillside, bursting into flames killing both airmen. Back in Phoenix as the concrete bakes, the concern grows over an effect known as the urban heat island. So much concrete and asphalt absorbing and retaining heat, it prevents the city from cooling overnight. And it has gotten worse overtime. In July of 1993, the average of low temperature was eighty-one degrees. Ten years later, it was eighty-seven. This July, it is ninety-one. There is race to cool down rescue animals, many treated for burned paws. The heat is particularly hard on the elderly and nearly ten thousand in Maricopa County without homes.