Heatwave breaks records in Death Valley and other western areas

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A long-lasting heat wave that has already broken all previous records in the United States is set to continue, with parts of the West facing dangerous temperatures that will rise above 100 degrees and the East in its sweltering grip all week, meteorologists said Sunday.

An extreme heat warning – the highest warning level issued by the National Weather Service – was in effect for about 36 million people, or about 10% of the population, NWS meteorologist Bryan Jackson said. Dozens of locations in the West and Pacific Northwest were expected to match or break previous heat records, he said.

That was definitely the case over the weekend: Many areas in Northern California saw temperatures exceed 110 degrees Fahrenheit, with the city of Redding reaching 118 degrees Fahrenheit. Phoenix set a new daily record for the warmest minimum temperature on Sunday: the temperature never dropped below 91 degrees Fahrenheit.

On Sunday, a maximum temperature of 53.3 degrees Celsius was measured in Death Valley National Park in eastern California, the weather service said.

Visitor Chris Kinsel was not fazed. He said it was “like Christmas for him” to be in Death Valley on the record-breaking day, July 7. Kinsel said he and his wife usually come to the park in the winter when it is still warm enough – but that was nothing compared to being in one of the hottest places on earth in July.

“Death Valley in the summer has always been on my bucket list. I’ve always wanted to come here in the summer,” said Kinsel, who was visiting the Badwater Basin area of ​​Death Valley from Las Vegas.

Kinsel said he planned to go to the park’s visitor center to have his photo taken next to the digital display of the current temperature.

Las Vegas hit a record high of 115 °F (46 °C) on Saturday, last seen in 2007, and on Sunday the city flirted with a record high of 118 °F (47.7 °C).

To escape the Nevada heat, Natasha Ivory took four of her eight children to a water park in Mount Charleston outside Las Vegas on Sunday.

“They’re having a blast,” Ivory told Fox5 Vegas. “I’m getting wet, too. It’s too hot not to.”

Jill Workman Anderson was also at Mount Charleston, taking a short hike with her dog and enjoying the view.

“We can look out and see the desert,” she said. “It was also 30 degrees cooler than northwest Las Vegas, where we live.”

Temperatures in Oregon were expected to exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celsius) on Sunday and rise to as high as 115 degrees Celsius (46.1 degrees Celsius) in some parts of California, Jackson said. Temperatures above 100 degrees were expected on the wetter East Coast, although no excessive heat warnings were in effect for the region on Sunday.

On Saturday, Raleigh, North Carolina, reached a new record high of 41.1 degrees Celsius, with a maximum heat index of 47.7 degrees Celsius.

“Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, avoid the sun, and check on relatives and neighbors,” says a warning from the National Weather Service for the Baltimore area. “Small children and pets should never be left unattended in the car under any circumstances.”

Isolated heat warnings were even extended to higher elevations, for example around Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border. The National Weather Service in Reno, Nevada, warned of “significant heat risks, even in the mountains.”

“What kind of heat are we talking about? Well, highs across (Western Nevada and Northeast California) won’t drop below 100 degrees (37.8 degrees) until next weekend,” the service posted online. “And unfortunately, there won’t be much relief overnight, either.”

In fact, Reno reached a high of 40 °C (104 °F) on Saturday, beating the previous record of 38.3 °C (101 °F).

Even more extreme highs are forecast in the near future, including possibly 130 °F (54.4 °C) around midweek in Furnace Creek, California, in Death Valley. The highest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth was 134 °F (56.67 °C) in July 1913 in Death Valley, although some experts dispute that measurement and say the true record is 130 °F (54.4 °C) recorded there in July 2021.

In Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes Phoenix, there have been at least 13 confirmed heat-related deaths this year, and more than 160 other deaths suspected to be heat-related are still under investigation, according to a recent report.

That does not include the death of a 10-year-old boy last week in Phoenix who, according to police, suffered a “heat-related medical incident” while hiking with his family in South Mountain Park and Preserve.

In California, emergency crews battled a series of wildfires across the state in sweltering temperatures.

In Santa Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles, the Lake Fire had destroyed more than 53 square kilometers of dry grass, brush and forest after it broke out on Friday. It was not yet under control as of Sunday morning. The fire raged mostly in uninhabited wilderness areas, but some rural homes had to be evacuated.

High temperatures were expected in the region throughout the week, with little relief from the heat even at night.

At the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon, music fans had to contend with cold water, shade or refreshment under water mist. Organizers of the weekend’s festivities also advertised free access to air conditioning at a nearby hotel.

Angelica Quiroz, 31, kept her scarf and hat moist and applied sunscreen.

“There is definitely a difference between shade and sun,” Quiroz said Friday. “But when you’re in the sun, it feels like you’re cooking.”

Beck reported from Omaha, Nebraska. Associated Press videographer Ty O’Neil in Death Valley National Park and writer Walter Berry in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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