Meteorologists said millions of people in the western United States suffered record-breaking temperatures on Saturday, with little sign of improvement in the coming days.
From Oregon to California to the deserts of Arizona, cities have been battling sweltering temperatures in recent days. Jacob Asherman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center, said the sweltering temperatures were fueled by a pile of high-pressure air parked over much of the West, preventing warm air near the Earth’s surface from rising higher into the atmosphere.
While many of these cities — such as Las Vegas, where temperatures are expected to reach 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius) this weekend — expect temperatures above 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) every summer, some residents in other regions were surprised by what is expected to be an extended period of scorching days.
In Portland, Oregon, temperatures were forecast to hover around 100 degrees for five straight days, starting Friday, conditions once considered unusual for a region where summers were so mild that air conditioners were rarely needed. The sweltering temperatures prompted Gov. Tina Kotek to declare a state of emergency for the state, warning that the extreme heat represented a “new normal” of a changing climate.
“Both the record-breaking temperatures and the duration of the heat pose a clear and present danger, particularly to children, the elderly, people with disabilities and those working outdoors,” Ms Kotek said in a statement.
The Pacific Northwest has been ravaged by deadly heat waves in recent years, killing hundreds of people. In the summer of 2021, temperatures soared 30 degrees above normal and there were about 600 more deaths than normal in Washington and Oregon.
This weekend, Portland city workers opened cooling centers where people could cool off in air-conditioned buildings, and they set up outdoor misting stations in parks. Some parts of southern Oregon are expected to get even hotter, with temperatures in Medford expected to reach 110 degrees on Saturday.
In the West, even cities accustomed to sweating through 90-degree temperatures struggled to cope with the heat this week. The desert oasis of Palm Springs, California, recorded a record high of 250 degrees on Friday. Phoenix also broke a single-day record on Friday, hitting 250 degrees under a cloudless sky, and meteorologists said there was little chance of monsoon storms bringing relief to the city during the summer months.
In Northern California, the city of Redding saw temperatures soar to 117 degrees, prompting county officials to extend the hours of cooling centers at libraries and community centers. Forecasters predicted Redding could reach 120 degrees on Saturday.
“I didn’t think Redding was going to be this hot,” Mr. Asherman said. “It’s a scorcher.”
Officials in western states warned that the extreme heat and wind would bring new forest fires in the coming days.
Scorching temperatures in and near Yosemite National Park — which reached 103 degrees in Yosemite Valley on Saturday — presented additional challenges as firefighters worked to contain a 908-acre wildfire that began Thursday near Mariposa, California. The blaze, dubbed the French Fire, was about 25 percent contained as of Saturday afternoon, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
Parts of the eastern half of the country were also baking, weeks after a prolonged heat wave caught many by surprise. For millions from Texas to New Jersey, a blanket of heat and humidity created dangerous conditions. In Raleigh, N.C., temperatures reached 106 degrees on Friday, break a record there.
Mr Asherman said the temperatures would continue well into next week and the misery would gradually spread to the Plains states.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” he said. “The pattern is so stagnant.”
