PORTLAND, Ore. Records fell across the West as a slow-moving heat wave of potentially historic proportions tightened its grip from the Pacific Northwest to Arizona on Friday, sending many residents seeking a cool escape from the dangerously high temperatures.
The U.S. Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions were also sweltering, with oppressive heat and humidity forecast to last until Saturday or longer.
One of the hottest places on Earth, California’s Death Valley, broke the previous record for the date by 5 degrees – with the mercury rising to 127 Fahrenheit (52.8 Celsius). The old mark of 122 (50 C) was last tied in 2013.
There was also a record high for the date of 118 (47.7 C) in Phoenix, where highs of 115 (46.1 C) or warmer were forecast through Wednesday. In Needles, California, where the National Weather Service has records dating back to 1888, the high of 122 (50°C) surpassed the old mark of 121 (49.4°C) set in 2007. It was 124 (51.1°C) ) in Palm Springs, California.
The worst was yet to come across much of the West, with triple-digit temperatures likely to be between 15 and 30 degrees (8 and 16 degrees Celsius) above average next week, the National Weather Service said.
“The duration of this heat is also concerning, as above-average scorching temperatures are forecast to last well into next week,” the Phoenix weather service said.
“This type of heat is dangerous for everyone without adequate refrigeration or hydration,” the service said Friday night in Las Vegas, which recorded a high of 113 (45 C). “Several climate locations face high odds of breaking daily and historical temperature records.”
In Gresham, Oregon, a Portland suburb that also tied the previous record of 98 (36.6 C), Sherri Thompson, 52, was waiting in her car with her 14-year-old Chihuahua Kiwani for the opening of a health center. cooling in the late afternoon. morning.
Thompson has lived in his car for three years and can only run the air conditioning for about 20 minutes at a time or the engine will overheat. She said she has been hospitalized for heatstroke in the past.
“I have anxiety and panic attacks and I worry. I don’t want to have another heatstroke, and everything just causes me a lot of anxiety,” she said.
In Arizona’s Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix, there have been at least 13 confirmed heat-related deaths this year, along with more than 160 other suspected heat deaths still under investigation, according to the county’s most recent report.
That does not include the death of a 10-year-old boy earlier this week in Phoenix, who suffered a “heat-related medical event” while hiking with his family in South Mountain Park and Preserve, according to police.
More extreme highs are in the near forecast, including 129 (53.8 degrees C) on Sunday at Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park, and then around 130 (54.44 C) through Wednesday. The hottest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth was 134 degrees (56.67 C) in Death Valley in July 1913, although some experts dispute this measurement and say the real record was 130 degrees recorded there in July 2021 .
In Bullhead City, Arizona, the temperature had already reached 111 degrees (44.4 C) at 11 a.m. Friday, on track for a high of 118 (47.7 C), and officials opened two cooling centers for seniors. and others.
“While this is a heat wave and we ask everyone to be cautious, we typically do not see large crowds at our cooling centers unless there are power outages,” said city spokesperson Mackenzie Covert. “Our community is hot every summer. Our residents are somewhat aware of this. They all tend to have working air conditioning units.”
Figure skaters were at the ice rink in Reno, Nevada, starting at 6 a.m., before the high reached 102 (38.8 degrees Celsius), general manager Kevin Sunde said. By the time the rink closed at 10:30 p.m., Sunde expected nearly 300 people to have visited, with more parents on hand to watch their kids’ hockey practice than usual.
“They might not be getting on the ice, but enjoying the coolness,” Sunde said. “We’re the only ice sheet within about an hour’s drive.”
In Norfolk, Virginia, Kristin Weisenborn set up her table at an outdoor farmers market to sell sourdough bread. The air hovered just below triple digits, but the 58% humidity made it feel more like 114 (46 C), according to the National Weather Service.
“It’s so hot, I just hope there are a lot of people here who can buy my bread,” said Weisenborn, 42, whose Krid’s Crumbs bakery is in Virginia Beach.
“Otherwise we will be left here sweating,” she said, adding that unsold bread will be donated or frozen.
Despite the suffocating air, people were already buying their bread as the market began.
“It’s hot, but it’s July,” Weisenborn added. “Better than snow, I guess.”
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Boone reported from Boise, Idaho, and Sonner reported from Reno, Nevada. Associated Press journalists Jonathan Drew in Raleigh, North Carolina; John Antczak in Los Angeles; Yamat River in Las Vegas; Denise Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia; and Ben Finely in Norfolk, Virginia, contributed.
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