RENO, Nev. (AP) — The first heat wave of the year is expected to maintain its grip on the Southwestern United States for at least another day Friday, a day after records tumbled across the region with temperatures soaring past 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) from southeast California to Arizona. Although the official start of summer is still two weeks away, roughly half of Arizona and Nevada were under an excessive heat alert, which the National Weather Service extended until Friday evening.
The alert was extended through Saturday in Las Vegas, where it's never been hotter this early in the year. “High temperatures as much as 10 to 15 degrees above normal can be expected, with record high temperatures likely for some sites through Friday," the weather service in Las Vegas said. It said temperatures will slowly retreat over the weekend, but will remain above normal into early next week.
“It’s so hot,” said Eleanor Wallace, 9, who was visiting Phoenix from northern Utah Thursday on a hike celebrating her birthday with her mother, Megan Wallace. The National Weather Service in Phoenix, where the new record high of 113 F (45 C) on Thursday leap-frogged the old mark of 111 F (44 C) set in 2016, called the conditions “dangerously hot.” There were no immediate reports of any heat-related deaths or serious injuries.
But at a campaign rally for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Phoenix , 11 people fell ill from heat exhaustion by lat.
