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US heat wave just warming up for long and scorching weekend

Deloris Knight of Detroit, Mich., sits on her front porch, Wednesday, July 17, 2019, as she prepares for the heat wave that will descend upon Detroit and a wide section of the Midwest. Knight said she will keep the heat out of her Eastside Detroit home by keeping her doors and curtains closed while running the small window air conditioner in the living room. "We have a couple of big fans. We have ceiling fans," Knight, 63, said while enjoying Wednesday's more comfortable 80-plus degree weather from her front porch. (AP Photo Corey Williams)

DETROIT — The heat wave that has been roasting much of the U.S. in recent days is just getting warmed up, with temperatures expected to soar to dangerous levels through the weekend.

Communities are preparing by offering buildings as cooling centres and asking residents to check in on family members and neighbours. Officials are also concerned about smog, which is exacerbated by the heat and makes it harder for certain people to breathe, including the very young, the elderly and people with asthma or lung diseases.

The National Weather Service estimates that more than 100 local heat records will fall on Saturday, though most won’t be daily highs but record-high nightly lows.

Greg Carbin, forecast branch chief for the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center, says the heat wave will likely be “short and searing.”

Corey Williams And Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press