One dead as severe heat wave hits western US
Forecasters said temperatures in Las Vegas shot up to 46 degrees Celsius on Saturday afternoon, two degrees short of the city’s all-time record.
A man died and another was hospitalised in serious condition Saturday afternoon in heat-aggravated incidents as a heat wave blistered this sunbaked city and elsewhere in the Southwest.
Forecasters said temperatures in Las Vegas shot up to 46 degrees Celsius on Saturday afternoon, two degrees short of the city’s all-time record.
Phoenix hit 48.3 degrees by mid-afternoon, breaking the record for June 29 that was set in 1994. And large swaths of California sweltered under extreme heat warnings, which are expected to last into Tuesday night — and maybe even longer.
The forecast for Death Valley in California called for 53.3 degrees Saturday, but it was a few degrees shy of that, according to unofficial reports from the National Weather Service. Death Valley’s record high of 56.6 degrees, set a century ago, stands as the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.
Las Vegas fire and rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said paramedics responded to a home without air conditioning and found an elderly man dead. He said while the man had medical issues, paramedics thought the heat worsened his condition.
Paramedics said another elderly man suffered a heat stroke when the air conditioner in his car went out for several hours while he was on a long road trip. He stopped in Las Vegas, called for help and was taken to the hospital in serious condition.
