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PHOENIX: A dangerous heat wave threatened a wide swath of the Southwest with potentially deadly temperatures reaching triple digits Saturday as some cooling centers extended their hours and emergency rooms prepared to treat more people with heat-related illnesses.
“Record temperatures are expected this weekend!” The National Weather Service in Phoenix warned in a tweet, advising people to follow safety advice such as drinking plenty of water and checking on relatives and neighbors.
“Don’t be a statistic!” The Tucson Weather Service advised, noting that extreme heat can be deadly. “It could happen to you!”
More than 110 million people, or about a third of Americans, were under severe heat warnings, watches and warnings Saturday as the scorching heat wave was expected to worsen this weekend in Nevada, Arizona and California. Temperatures are expected to rise in some desert areas to exceed 120 degrees F (48.8°C) during the day, and stays in the 90s Fahrenheit (above 32.2°C) overnight.
About 200 hydration stations handing out water bottles and cooling stations where thousands of people can rest in air-conditioned spaces opened Saturday in public spaces such as libraries, churches and businesses throughout the Phoenix area.
Charles Sanders spent Friday afternoon with his baby girl, Chihuahua Mix, at the air-conditioned Justa Center, which offers day services to older homeless people in downtown Phoenix. It also serves as a hydration station, distributing free water bottles.
Due to funding and staffing constraints, the center can only stay open until 5:30 p.m., so Sanders, 59, who uses a wheelchair, spent sweltering nights with his pet in a tent pitched behind the building.
“I’ve been here for four seasons and it’s the worst yet,” said Sanders, a former welder originally from Denver.
Because of health risks, some centers are extending hours that are sometimes shortened due to a lack of volunteers and money, David Hondola, chief heat officer for the City of Phoenix, said Friday.
“This weekend there will be some of the most dangerous and hottest conditions we have ever seen,” Hindola said.
He said only one location, the Brian Garcia Homeless Reception Center in downtown Phoenix, plans to open 24 hours and direct people to shelters and other air-conditioned spaces overnight. During particularly hot spells in the past, the Phoenix Convention Center has opened up some space as a nighttime cooling center, but Hondula said he hadn’t heard of that possibility this year.
Stacy Champion, a homeless advocate in Phoenix, took to Twitter this week to criticize the lack of places to cool off at night for homeless individuals, saying they are “lucky” if they don’t have a place to go.
In Las Vegas, casinos provide a respite from the heat for many. Air-conditioned libraries, police station lobbies and other venues from Texas to California are planned to be open to the public to provide comfort for at least part of the day.
Las Vegas emergency room doctors treated more people for heat illness as a heat wave threatened to shatter the city’s record high of 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47.2 degrees Celsius) this weekend.
Dr. Ashkan Morim, who works in the emergency department at Dignity Health Siena Hospital on the outskirts of Henderson, Nevada, spoke Friday about treating tourists this week who spent too much time drinking by pools and became severely dehydrated, and a stranded park that needed liters of fluids from To regain his strength.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city, splash pads will be open for extended hours and many public pools are offering free admission. In Boise, Idaho, churches and other nonprofit groups have been offering water, sunscreen and shelter.
In Southern California, temperatures rose to triple digits inland, and a high-pressure ridge was expected to maintain control over the region for a few weeks.
By mid-afternoon on Saturday, it was 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) in Death Valley, California, with forecasters saying the temperature could reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius) this weekend. The highest temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was 134 F (56.6 C) in July 1913, according to the National Park Service.
Temperatures in Lancaster and Palmdale, north of Los Angeles, reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.2 Celsius), said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. In Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, the thermometer is off triple digits in some areas.
“We’re going to be warm for a while,” Wofford said, adding that temperatures will be higher than normal for about two weeks. “There were a lot of triple digits” around the area.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass announced that the city will open cooling centers where residents can escape the heat. “Extreme temperatures expected this weekend could pose serious risks,” it warned.
Hot, dry conditions have caused a series of fires in Southern California southeast of Los Angeles, as firefighters on Saturday battled three separate blazes amid sweltering heat and low humidity in sparsely populated mountainous regions. All of the fires were within 40 miles (65 kilometers) of each other in Riverside County, with temperatures in some areas soaring into triple digits.
“Heat is definitely a concern out there,” said April Newman of the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department, adding that the fires were burning through thick dry brush in rough terrain.
Phoenix on Saturday had its 16th straight day of temperatures of 110°F (43.3°C) or higher in the city, reaching that mark before noon and putting it on track to beat the longest-measured stretch of that heat. The record was 18 days, in 1974.
By late afternoon, the temperature in Phoenix reached 118 degrees Fahrenheit (47.8 degrees Celsius), breaking the daily record set on July 15, 1998, of 117 Fahrenheit (47.2 Celsius), the Phoenix National Weather Service reported. The normal high for this date is 107 F (41.6 C).
In an underscore of just how dangerous the heat can be, police in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise said Saturday that their officers on Friday found two elderly women sweating in the house at 114 F (45.5 C) with a small unit that was overworked and failed to cool most areas. the home. After the women were taken to a large refrigeration center, the department’s community services team purchased and installed a suitable air conditioner and several fans in the house.
Extreme heat is especially dangerous for the elderly; Medications they may be taking or chronic diseases such as heart or kidney disease can make it difficult for their bodies to cool down.
Las Vegas regional health officials launched a new database Thursday to report “heat-related” and “heat-related” deaths in the city and surrounding Clark County from April through October.
Seven people have died since April 11, the Southern Nevada Health District said, and a total of 152 heat-related deaths were identified last year.
Maricopa County in Arizona, home to Phoenix, reported this week that so far this year, there have been 12 confirmed heat-related deaths dating back to April, half of them homeless. Another 55 deaths are under investigation.
There were 425 confirmed heat-related deaths in Maricopa County last year, more than half of which occurred in July and 80% of which occurred outdoors.
Closer to the Pacific Coast, temperatures were less extreme, but it continued to lead to sweaty days on picket lines in the Los Angeles area, where actors joined screenwriters in strikes against producers.
In Sacramento, the California State Fair kicked off with organizers canceling planned horse racing events due to animal safety concerns. Pet owners across the Southwest have been urged to keep their animals indoors.
“Record temperatures are expected this weekend!” The National Weather Service in Phoenix warned in a tweet, advising people to follow safety advice such as drinking plenty of water and checking on relatives and neighbors.
“Don’t be a statistic!” The Tucson Weather Service advised, noting that extreme heat can be deadly. “It could happen to you!”
More than 110 million people, or about a third of Americans, were under severe heat warnings, watches and warnings Saturday as the scorching heat wave was expected to worsen this weekend in Nevada, Arizona and California. Temperatures are expected to rise in some desert areas to exceed 120 degrees F (48.8°C) during the day, and stays in the 90s Fahrenheit (above 32.2°C) overnight.
About 200 hydration stations handing out water bottles and cooling stations where thousands of people can rest in air-conditioned spaces opened Saturday in public spaces such as libraries, churches and businesses throughout the Phoenix area.
Charles Sanders spent Friday afternoon with his baby girl, Chihuahua Mix, at the air-conditioned Justa Center, which offers day services to older homeless people in downtown Phoenix. It also serves as a hydration station, distributing free water bottles.
Due to funding and staffing constraints, the center can only stay open until 5:30 p.m., so Sanders, 59, who uses a wheelchair, spent sweltering nights with his pet in a tent pitched behind the building.
“I’ve been here for four seasons and it’s the worst yet,” said Sanders, a former welder originally from Denver.
Because of health risks, some centers are extending hours that are sometimes shortened due to a lack of volunteers and money, David Hondola, chief heat officer for the City of Phoenix, said Friday.
“This weekend there will be some of the most dangerous and hottest conditions we have ever seen,” Hindola said.
He said only one location, the Brian Garcia Homeless Reception Center in downtown Phoenix, plans to open 24 hours and direct people to shelters and other air-conditioned spaces overnight. During particularly hot spells in the past, the Phoenix Convention Center has opened up some space as a nighttime cooling center, but Hondula said he hadn’t heard of that possibility this year.
Stacy Champion, a homeless advocate in Phoenix, took to Twitter this week to criticize the lack of places to cool off at night for homeless individuals, saying they are “lucky” if they don’t have a place to go.
In Las Vegas, casinos provide a respite from the heat for many. Air-conditioned libraries, police station lobbies and other venues from Texas to California are planned to be open to the public to provide comfort for at least part of the day.
Las Vegas emergency room doctors treated more people for heat illness as a heat wave threatened to shatter the city’s record high of 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47.2 degrees Celsius) this weekend.
Dr. Ashkan Morim, who works in the emergency department at Dignity Health Siena Hospital on the outskirts of Henderson, Nevada, spoke Friday about treating tourists this week who spent too much time drinking by pools and became severely dehydrated, and a stranded park that needed liters of fluids from To regain his strength.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city, splash pads will be open for extended hours and many public pools are offering free admission. In Boise, Idaho, churches and other nonprofit groups have been offering water, sunscreen and shelter.
In Southern California, temperatures rose to triple digits inland, and a high-pressure ridge was expected to maintain control over the region for a few weeks.
By mid-afternoon on Saturday, it was 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) in Death Valley, California, with forecasters saying the temperature could reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit (54.4 degrees Celsius) this weekend. The highest temperature ever recorded in Death Valley was 134 F (56.6 C) in July 1913, according to the National Park Service.
Temperatures in Lancaster and Palmdale, north of Los Angeles, reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.2 Celsius), said Mike Wofford, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. In Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, the thermometer is off triple digits in some areas.
“We’re going to be warm for a while,” Wofford said, adding that temperatures will be higher than normal for about two weeks. “There were a lot of triple digits” around the area.
In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass announced that the city will open cooling centers where residents can escape the heat. “Extreme temperatures expected this weekend could pose serious risks,” it warned.
Hot, dry conditions have caused a series of fires in Southern California southeast of Los Angeles, as firefighters on Saturday battled three separate blazes amid sweltering heat and low humidity in sparsely populated mountainous regions. All of the fires were within 40 miles (65 kilometers) of each other in Riverside County, with temperatures in some areas soaring into triple digits.
“Heat is definitely a concern out there,” said April Newman of the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department, adding that the fires were burning through thick dry brush in rough terrain.
Phoenix on Saturday had its 16th straight day of temperatures of 110°F (43.3°C) or higher in the city, reaching that mark before noon and putting it on track to beat the longest-measured stretch of that heat. The record was 18 days, in 1974.
By late afternoon, the temperature in Phoenix reached 118 degrees Fahrenheit (47.8 degrees Celsius), breaking the daily record set on July 15, 1998, of 117 Fahrenheit (47.2 Celsius), the Phoenix National Weather Service reported. The normal high for this date is 107 F (41.6 C).
In an underscore of just how dangerous the heat can be, police in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise said Saturday that their officers on Friday found two elderly women sweating in the house at 114 F (45.5 C) with a small unit that was overworked and failed to cool most areas. the home. After the women were taken to a large refrigeration center, the department’s community services team purchased and installed a suitable air conditioner and several fans in the house.
Extreme heat is especially dangerous for the elderly; Medications they may be taking or chronic diseases such as heart or kidney disease can make it difficult for their bodies to cool down.
Las Vegas regional health officials launched a new database Thursday to report “heat-related” and “heat-related” deaths in the city and surrounding Clark County from April through October.
Seven people have died since April 11, the Southern Nevada Health District said, and a total of 152 heat-related deaths were identified last year.
Maricopa County in Arizona, home to Phoenix, reported this week that so far this year, there have been 12 confirmed heat-related deaths dating back to April, half of them homeless. Another 55 deaths are under investigation.
There were 425 confirmed heat-related deaths in Maricopa County last year, more than half of which occurred in July and 80% of which occurred outdoors.
Closer to the Pacific Coast, temperatures were less extreme, but it continued to lead to sweaty days on picket lines in the Los Angeles area, where actors joined screenwriters in strikes against producers.
In Sacramento, the California State Fair kicked off with organizers canceling planned horse racing events due to animal safety concerns. Pet owners across the Southwest have been urged to keep their animals indoors.
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