Accustomed to enduring the heat, Las Vegas residents are now closely watching the thermometer as the desert city is poised to break a record on Wednesday for the most consecutive days above 115 degrees Fahrenheit during a persistent hot spell that is expected to linger over much of the U.S. into the weekend.
On Tuesday, Las Vegas flirted with the all-time temperature record of 120 F achieved on Sunday, but ultimately reached a new daily high of 119 F, surpassing the previous record of 116 F set for that date in 2021. Meteorologists predict that the city will likely reach a record fifth straight day above 115 F on Wednesday.
Even for a desert area like Las Vegas, the prolonged heatwave that Nevada’s largest city is currently experiencing is nearly unprecedented.
“This is the most extreme heatwave in the recorded history of Las Vegas since 1937,” stated meteorologist John Adair, who has worked at the National Weather Service office in southern Nevada for over three decades.
Tuesday’s high temperature tied the previous record of four consecutive days above 115 F set in July 2005. Adair also mentioned that this record could be extended through Friday.
Alyse Sobosan remarked that this July has been the hottest in her 15 years of living in Las Vegas. As a counselor at a charter school currently on summer break, Sobosan revealed that she avoids going outside during the day and waits until 9 p.m. or later to walk her dogs.
“It’s oppressively hot,” she said. “It’s like you can’t really live your life.”
Health officials have emphasized that the extreme heat is also dangerously hot.
“Even individuals of average health and age can suffer from heat-related illnesses when it’s so hot that your body struggles to cool down,” stated epidemiologist Alexis Brignola from the Southern Nevada Health District.
The scorching heatwave affecting large parts of the U.S. has resulted in record daily high temperatures in Oregon, where it is believed to have caused six deaths, according to the state medical examiner’s office. Over 161 million people across the U.S. were under heat alerts on Tuesday, particularly in Western states.
Many locations in the West tied or broke previous heat records over the weekend and are expected to continue doing so throughout the week.
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The heatwave was attributed to a motorcyclist’s death in Death Valley National Park over the weekend. Tourists in Death Valley queued to take pictures in front of a giant thermometer displaying 120 F.
Simon Pell and Lisa Gregory from London left their air-conditioned RV to experience the intense mid-day heat, an experience they couldn’t fathom back home.
“I don’t need a thermometer to tell me that it’s hot,” Pell stated. “You hear about it in stories and wildlife documentaries. But just for me, I wanted to experience what it would feel like. … It’s an incredible experience.”
Death Valley is known as one of the most extreme environments in the world. The hottest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth was 134 F in July 1913 in Death Valley, although some experts dispute that measurement and claim the real record was 130 F in July 2021.
Record highs for the date were also reached on Tuesday in parts of Oregon and Washington, with Portland hitting 103 F and Salem and Eugene reaching 105 F. Triple-digit temperatures were also recorded in Idaho.
Phoenix, which has averaged its hottest temperature ever for the first eight days of July in records dating back to 1885, tied the daily record on Tuesday of 116 F set in 1958.
The high on Tuesday in Reno, Nevada was 106 F, breaking the daily record of 104 F last tied in 2017 and extending the longest streak ever of 105 F or higher to four days. Prior to this week, the city had never experienced such high temperatures for more than two consecutive days in records dating back to 1888.
The U.S. heatwave coincided with a global temperature in June that marked a record warm month for the 13th consecutive time, as reported by the European climate service Copernicus. Most of this heat, attributed to human-caused climate change, comes from long-term warming due to greenhouse gases emitted from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas, according to scientists.
Ty ONeil/AP
Hotels and casinos in Las Vegas keep their guests cool with large AC units. However, for homeless individuals and others lacking access to safe environments, authorities have established emergency cooling centers at community centers throughout southern Nevada.
Last week, firefighters in Henderson, Nevada, became the first in the region to deploy what city spokesperson Madeleine Skains referred to as “polar pods” to cool a person showing signs of heat stroke or a related medical emergency.
Skains explained that four vehicles, including battalion chiefs in the city with over 330,000 residents, have these devices reminiscent of units initially used in Phoenix a month ago. These pods can be filled with water and ice to submerge a medical patient in cold water while en route to a hospital.
The extreme heat and prolonged drought in the West have also dried out vegetation that serves as fuel for wildfires.
A new wildfire in Oregon, known as the Larch Creek Fire, rapidly expanded to over 5 square miles on Tuesday evening as flames consumed grassland in Wasco County. Evacuations were issued for remote homes approximately 15 miles south of The Dalles.
In California, firefighters were contending with at least 18 wildfires on Tuesday, including a 42-square-mile blaze that prompted evacuation orders for about 200 residences in the mountains of Santa Barbara County. The Lake Fire was merely 16% contained, with forecasters warning of a “volatile combination” of high heat, low humidity, and northwest winds expected to develop late in the day.
Northeast of Los Angeles, the 2-square-mile Vista Fire devoured trees in the San Bernardino National Forest, creating a massive plume of smoke visible across the region.
The National Weather Service indicated that the excessive heat warnings across most of the Southwest U.S. would be extended through Saturday morning.
“It’s not over yet,” stated the service in Reno.
