While Monday is expected to have cooler temperatures and less humidity, dangerous heat is likely to return to Massachusetts this week.
Temperatures will remain in the 70s on Monday with a low of 55 Monday night. Similar temperatures are expected on Tuesday.
A warming trend begins Wednesday, with heat and humidity returning for Thursday and Friday, according to the National Weather Service forecasters. Highs could reach 95 to 100 degrees and have dangerous Heat Indices on Friday.
Forecasters are predicting it could feel like more than 105 degrees on Friday.
When the heat index is this high, it can cause heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heat stroke, especially with prolonged exposure or physical activity.
Massachusetts has reported nearly 30 people have died due to heat over the past decade, “and the frequency of these deaths is increasing as the climate changes.” For these people, heat was listed as either the main or contributing cause of death, including excessive natural heat, excessive heat of man-made origin or effects of heat and light.
Two people died in June 2024 due to heat in Massachusetts, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
But the numbers aren’t complete as death certificates don’t always reflect the role heat played — and it expands beyond Massachusetts, experts told the Associated Press.
In 2023, more than 2,300 people died in the U.S. due to excessive heat, according to their death certificates, PBS reported. It was the highest number in 45 years, according to the AP.
A government website warns that the most serious climate-related health hazards in Massachusetts result from an increased number of very hot summer days, increased precipitation leading to flooding, increased storm-related inland and coastal flooding and rising sea levels.
“Climate change is expected to increase the number of days over 90 degrees Fahrenheit each year, which may increase hospitalizations for heat-related illnesses,” the website states. “Climate change may also alter existing patterns of environmentally related diseases (e.g., asthma) and result in new health threats, such as tropical mosquito-borne illnesses.”
In 2005, there was an average of about nine days above 90 degrees. By 2030, Massachusetts is predicted to have more than 22 days above 90 degrees. By 2070, that number is expected to increase to more than 40 days.
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