The heat dome across the western United States also helped to generate heavy rains in the northeast, claiming at least five lives. The heat warnings spread as far as Florida.

The already parched West is getting drier and suffering deadly wildfires because of it, while the much wetter East keeps getting drenched in mega-rainfall events, some hurricane related and others not.

The duelling events marked a stark moment on the campaign trail, where the two candidates' dramatically contrasting outlooks on climate change — and the impact it has had on the record-setting fires ravaging California, Oregon and Washington state — were front-and-centre.