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Washington State health officials have urged consumers not to eat locally harvested raw oysters and other shellfish after an outbreak of intestinal disease caused by bacteria that multiplied rapidly after a recent “heat dome” baked the Pacific Northwest. State health officials said that recent high temperatures and low tides were most likely to blame for the outbreak of the disease, vibriosis, which has sickened at least 52 people this month, the most ever recorded in July. (Levenson, 7/22)

New studies show the smoke from some wildfires like the 2018 Camp fire could be even more harmful than previously believed because its noxious fumes include elevated levels of chemicals such as lead, zinc and iron, Los Angeles Times reports. Hazardous chemicals in the air are linked with serious health implications for blood pressure, reproductive systems and even cancer and neurological disorders, especially in children. (Fernandez, 7/23)

Another heat wave is set to park over the Lower 48 next week, bringing anomalous summertime heat to parts of the central and eastern United States that may have missed out on previous events. Early estimates indicate that most of the contiguous United States will see highs running 10 to 15 degrees above average. When combined with climbing humidity, it’ll feel like it’s well into the triple digits for millions. The pattern could also spark severe thunderstorms, perhaps packing strong winds, that could roll through the northern Great Lakes and New England during late July and August. (Cappucci, 7/22)

Unseasonably hot weather is projected to move eastward from the Northern Rockies to the Upper Midwest in the coming days, while one of the largest fires in modern Oregon history continues to burn and the Southwest prepares for possible flash flooding from thunderstorms. Temperatures on Thursday are projected to reach the upper 90s or low 100s in eastern Montana and the western Dakotas, the National Weather Service said, before the heat heads toward Minnesota on Friday. More seasonable conditions were found along the West Coast, which is battling a drought. (7/22)

In Boise, Idaho, where the temperature topped 97 for a stretch of 14 out of 15 days this month, Sarah O’Keefe refuses to give in. With the mercury repeatedly soaring into triple digits, she started waking up hours earlier, added afternoon siestas to her routine and installed a sprinkler to cool her hot metal roof. The AC stays off. In Edmonton, Alberta — nobody’s idea of a sweltering summer spot — Ellen Campbell no longer mocks neighbors who own air conditioners, but she’s not about to buy one herself. When highs topped 90 degrees for a few days before returning to the more ordinary 60s, she checked her grandkids and herself into a local hotel for the AC and the pool. But she will not buy her own AC unit. That’s not the kind of place where she lives. (Fisher, Wolf and Hingston, 7/22)