Millions of people in southwestern states are under warnings of extreme heat on Friday, after two major U.S. cities recorded their hottest ever daily temperatures as the potentially dangerous heat wave continues.
Phoenix reached a sweltering 113 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday — beating the previous daily record for this time of year of 111 degrees set in 2016 — while Las Vegas set a new record of 111 degrees for June 6, the National Weather Service confirmed.
Some 86 million people across the continental United States will face heat of 90 degrees or more on Friday, while in the southwestern states at least 14 million can expect 100 degrees or more.
The heat in Phoenix caused at least 11 people to become unwell and require medical attention at a rally for former President Donald Trump in Phoenix on Thursday, the city’s fire department said. Some had waited outside in the sweltering heat for the event to start.
In Death Valley, California, thermometers reached 122 degrees, beating the record of 121 set in 1996. The hottest temperature ever recorded in the United States was 134 degrees, at Death Valley in 1913 — although some climate scientists have questioned that statistic.
It’s getting hotter during all parts of the day and earlier in the year as well. At Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport on Thursday the lowest recorded temperature was 85 degrees, 9 degrees above the normal low for early June, the NWS said.
Several mountain trails are routinely shut when temperatures approach three digits. As the Phoenix Fire Department put it on Facebook, “it’s not the day for hiking.”
Phoenix Fire Captain Todd Keller told NBC News on Thursday that every fire truck is now equipped with an “immersion” ice bag to place sun stroke patients in, to aggressively lower their body temperature. The objective Keller says is to save lives.
“The survivability that we’re seeing is going through the roof when we can get these patients cooled down before we arrive to the hospital,” Keller said.
Many of the 645 deaths from extreme heat in the metro Phoenix area last year, he said, were among the city’s vagrant population. “If they fall asleep or they’re sleeping on the concrete they’re gonna get third degree burns,” he said.
The physical and financial impact of heat is huge on the local community — but also on their pets. Camille Rabbani, from Phoenix, keeps her thermostat at a stifling 83 degrees so to not incur high electricity bills. Any higher and her dog, Riggs, can’t cope.
“We were trying 86 and he was like huffing and puffing and I was like, ‘that’s not good.’ And then we just kind of got to, like, 83 was manageable,” she said.
Los Angeles County issued a heat advisory for the desert areas of Antelope Valley and East Antelope Valley for Friday.
The weekend will see extreme heat in the Deep South, from New Orleans down to Florida, where forecasters said records could be broken along the state’s east coast, from Sanford to West Palm Beach.
Across the South on Sunday the heat index — a measure of how hot it feels — could reach three digits. People are advised to call 911 immediately if they witness exhibiting heat strokes symptoms such as vomiting and dizziness.