A dangerous heat wave is currently baking the eastern two-thirds of the United States with extreme temperatures in the mid-to-upper 90s and into the 100s. Roads all across the country are buckling!
Multiple videos hit social media over the last few days to show the damage, which caused a number of car and motorcycle accidents and indefinite road closures.
Lets start with the weather. A “heat dome” of high pressure brought the hottest temperatures of the year and uncomfortably humid air to much of the central and eastern United States. It reaches as far west as Salt Lake City, into states like South Dakota and Minnesota, and as far northeast as Maine. Pretty much everywhere it’s going to be hot and I don’t need a jacket! (IYKYK)
The National Weather Service issued extreme heat warnings for major cities like St. Louis, Chicago, Nashville, Jackson, Lexington, Cleveland, Raleigh, Washington, Philadelphia New York and Boston. Relief will arrive to some of these areas by the end of the week. Others will have to wait until the middle of next week. Record temperatures exceeding 100º Fahrenheit are on the way this weekend if they aren’t there already! Here is a list of the places that will get crushed the hardest by this ‘Heat Dome’ expected to break records this week.
We have already seen this extreme weather wreak havoc on the Club World Cup. European teams are not able to handle the heat. Neither are the roads. (That was a tough transition but we’re rolling with it…)
Heat causes pavement to expand. The expansion can cause the pavement to push against adjacent slabs or cracks. And if there is not enough space for the pavement to expand, it will buckle upwards.
That continues to be an issue across the United States amid this heat dome. The buckling can vary in size from a small crack on the edges to a massive bump right in the middle of the road. Wisconsin dealt with a mix of the two extremes over the weekend.
This is how it looked in Lincoln, Nebraska:
This was in Broomfield, Colorado:
Neither situation is ideal but it could be worse! Take Cambridge, Minnesota for example. Highway 65 buckled in the heat and caused multiple accidents because you cannot see the bump until it is too late.
Highway 65 in Cambridge MN buckles in the heat and multiple accidents reported. @CrimeWatchMpls @IsantiMNSheriff @cicero_mn @NWSTwinCities pic.twitter.com/3rF3tzDCaf
— Jeremiah Sedler (@JeremiahSedler) June 21, 2025
And then there is the viral video from Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It shows a road expand in real time as an unsuspecting patron drives right over the buckle as it grows to a peak. The car went flying over the bump in a scene straight out of Dukes of Hazzard.
Needless to say, a large portion of the United States and its infrastructure is not prepared for this heat. Places like Wisconsin, Minnesota and Colorado are not supposed to be this hot. The roads can’t take it!