Dangerous heat wave to cook the West, potentially breaking records



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As the heat settled in the west of what could be a record-breaking heat wave, some flights at the Las Vegas airport were canceled due to high temperatures on Friday.

“It’s always hot, but it’s not always that hot,” said Clay Morgan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Las Vegas, who called the heat unusual and approaching all-time records.

The city could reach an all-time high of 117 degrees this weekend, he said. This has only happened four times, most recently in 2017.

The temperature climbed to within one degree on Friday, when it was 116 degrees at McCarran International Airport. There have been flight delays and some cancellations at the airport due to the heat.

The Federal Aviation Administration has implemented a program to manage traffic due to the heat and wind, the agency and the airport said.

Southwest Airlines told frustrated passengers on Twitter that a number of its flights from Las Vegas had been canceled, citing extreme heat. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night on the number of people affected.

Excessive heat warnings covered much of the western United States from California and southeastern Oregon to parts of Utah and Arizona on Friday.

There is a large high pressure dome centered over the region causing very hot temperatures in many parts of the West, Morgan of the Weather Service mentionned.

Grand Junction Airport, Colorado, saw a all time record of 107 degrees, breaking the previous record of 106 in 2005.

Last month was the hottest June on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

And the heat in the Pacific Northwest was deadly. Eighty-three people had died from the heat in Oregon on Friday, the Oregon medical examiner’s office said in a statement released by state police, and 32 more deaths were reported. ‘under investigation.

In the heat of the weekend, California officials urged residents to save electricity and state cooling centers were open.

A statewide “flexible alert”, which is a call to conserve electricity, was extended until Saturday amid high heat and a wildfire in southeastern France. Oregon threatening transmission lines.

It was 100 degrees in Sacramento shortly after noon on Friday. The Sacramento County Emergency Services Office warned of dangerous heat this weekend.

Death Valley recorded a high temperature of 130 degrees on Friday, but the reading is considered preliminary and not yet validated, the weather service said. But what there was no doubt was the danger.

“Heed these warnings,” he tweeted in all capital letters. “Don’t put yourself or the first responders in danger this weekend!

Death Valley holds the world record for the hottest temperature on earth, which was 134 degrees on July 10, 1913.

The all-time world heat record was considered 136 degrees in Libya on September 13, 1922. But the World Meteorological Organization investigated and invalidated that record in 2012, with a panel concluding that it was due to a registration error. temperature.



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