[12] Reports of deaths trailed off over the week-end of July 21–23, though high temperatures persisted and power outages remained in a number of areas including New York, Missouri, and Illinois.

In St. Louis, half the city was without power due to severe thunderstorms, prompting requests for volunteer nurses to help cope with the situation.

[22] By the end of July, the sweltering heat in California subsided, although the number of confirmed or suspected heat-related deaths climbed to 163 as county coroners worked through a backlog of cases.

[33][34] Temperatures approached the 100 mark in Rochester, New York on August 1 and were coupled with the highest dew points the area has experienced in over 51 years.

[36] By August 8, the heat wave had passed for most areas, but persisted in the South and Southeast, with continued reports of mortality in Oklahoma.

[20] The heat wave went through several distinct periods: Dallas, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana; the New England region; and other areas have reported damage such as ruptured water lines and buckled roads.

[13] In addition, overworked power transformers have been damaged or rendered useless because of the heat, resulting in blackouts, notably in St. Louis, Missouri; Queens, New York; Los Angeles, California; and the Delaware Valley.

Parts of Canada, mostly areas of provinces located close to the U.S. border (Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec) had been affected in waves by the persistent heat over the continent building from west to east during the month of July, which progressed into August 2006.

Persistent heat and drought had plagued some of the same regions of the country during the previous summers of 2002, 2003, and 2005, although large, frequent storms brought above normal rainfall to many areas in Ontario and Quebec during those years.

[43] On August 2, more storms associated with a relieving cool front caused heavy damage over a wide swath of central and eastern Ontario, resulting in 175,000 residents losing power and thousands of felled trees blocking roads.

Although comparatively little reporting is made about the health effects of extraordinarily hot conditions, heat waves are responsible for more deaths annually than more energetic natural disasters such as lightning, rain, floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes.

[44] Supporting this conclusion, Karl Swanberg, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, reported that between 1936 and 1975, about 20,000 U.S. residents died of heat.

[11] "Heat and solar radiation on average kill more U.S. residents each year than lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods or earthquakes," said Karl Swanberg.

This finding is also referenced in a publication of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, giving guidance on how to avoid health problems due to heat.