Western USA Staggers Under Massive Heatwave; 1 Dead
Temperatures in Las Vegas shot up to 115 degrees on Saturday afternoon, just two degrees shy of an all-time record, as the Desert Southwest continued to stagger under a relentless heat wave.
Las Vegas fire and rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski told the Associated Press that a man died and another was hospitalized in serious condition Saturday afternoon in heat-aggravated incidents as a heat wave blistered this sunbaked city.
The heat wave has sent more than 40 other people to hospitals in Las Vegas since it arrived Friday. On Friday, 115-degree heat in the city tied a 19-year record.
Large swaths of California sweltered under extreme heat warnings, which are expected to last into Tuesday night — and maybe even longer.
In Southern California, Palm Springs peaked at 122 while the mercury in Lancaster set a record at 111, according to the L.A. Times.
The forecast for Death Valley in California called for 128, but it was a few degrees shy of that, according to unofficial reports from the National Weather Service. Death Valley’s record high of 134, set a century ago, stands as the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.