Extreme fire danger likely as record-breaking heat continues in California

By MAX GOLEMBO, ABC News

(NEW YORK) — There are 22 large wildfires currently burning in California with dozens more burning from Texas to Washington.

On Sunday, record heat and dry gusty winds helped to spread the fires.

Winds gusted over 50 mph in northern California with record high temperatures of 101 in Napa and 99 in Oakland.

On Monday, critical to extreme fire danger is expected from southern Oregon to the San Francisco Bay area and down to Los Angeles county.

Red Flag Warnings, Heat Advisory, Excessive Heat Watch and Air Quality Alerts have been issued for the West, mostly for California.

Temperatures are forecast to approach 100 degrees once again for most of inland California with temperatures near 90 in major cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Gusty Santa Ana winds will be the most dangerous Monday morning in Southern California.

Temperatures will surpass 100 degrees in Burbank on Tuesday and Wednesday with more record highs possible in the region.

Meanwhile, in the Midwest and parts of the South, a strong cold front is expected to bring a major cold blast from Minnesota to Georgia.

The coldest temperatures of the season are forecast for most of the area this week with the coldest day and night expected by the end of the week Thursday, Friday and into Saturday.

Many areas in the Midwest and central U.S. will see their first frost and freeze of the season.

Ahead of the this strong cold front, very humid, tropical air will move into the Northeast and all along the East Coast.

This tropical air mass will bring a lot of rain to the Northeast this week with some areas getting 2 to as much as 4 inches of rain, with locally higher amounts in southern New England with some flooding possible.

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