Nearly half of U.S. population facing extreme heat

About 141 million people in a 1 million-square-mile area were under heat advisories and warnings, Justin Kenney, spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, tweeted.

The National Weather Service said, "These triple-digit temperatures are forecast to remain in place across the eastern U.S. through Saturday before cooling off slightly to the mid-90s by Sunday."

"After several days of deadly heat and humidity as many as 22 people have died," the National Weather Service reported Wednesday afternoon.

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. Temperatures will feel like 100 to 110 degrees or higher during the afternoon hours."

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