Deadly heat wave to remain Thursday

  A blistering heat wave gripping much of the country is expected to remain Thursday as officials blamed nearly two dozen deaths on the high temperatures.

This heat wave could go into the weekend, forecasters say.

“After several days of deadly heat and humidity as many as 22 people have died,” the National Weather Service said Wednesday.

Across the United States, about 141 million people are under heat advisories and warnings.

Almost half of the country continues to sizzle in triple-digit temperatures, with Missouri officials investigating whether 13 deaths could be heat-related.

Of the 13 possible deaths, the youngest is a woman in her mid-30s and the oldest two women in their mid-70s, said Jeff Hershberger, spokesman for the Kansas City health department.

It may take between six weeks to several months for officials to process toxicology tests to determine whether all 13 died of heat-related causes, Hershberger said.

In Oklahoma, four heat-related deaths have been confirmed since May, said Cherokee Ballard, a spokeswoman for the state medical examiner.

Three of those occurred in the past 30 days, including a 3-year-old boy in a car in Norman and a 69-year-old man from Blackwell, she said.

An additional eight Oklahoma deaths may potentially be related to the heat, she said, with most occurring in July.

Excessive-heat watches, warnings and heat advisories were in effect in more than 30 states Wednesday, in what the weather service described as “a large portion of the central U.S. and Ohio River Valley, as well as portions of the mid-Atlantic and northeastern states.

“At this point, we’re still not yet at the worst level,” Hershberger said. “We’re at ‘extreme heat warning’ which is one level lower than ‘heat emergency.'”

Triple-digit temperatures are forecast to remain across the eastern U.S. through Saturday before cooling off slightly to the mid-90s by Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

By afternoon hours, temperatures will feel like 110 degrees or higher, forecasters warned.