Persistent heat wave in U.S. expected to shatter records as it bakes West, swelters in East

A long-running heat wave that has shattered previous records across the U.S. will persist, baking parts of the West with dangerous temperatures that will soar into the 100s and holding the East in its hot and humid grip throughout the week, forecasters said Sunday.

An excessive heat warning — the National Weather Service’s highest alert — was in effect for about 36 million people, or about 10% of the population, said NWS meteorologist Bryan Jackson. Dozens of locations in the West and Pacific Northwest were expected to tie or break previous heat records, he said.

That was certainly the case over the weekend: The California city of Redding topping out at a record 119. Phoenix set a new daily record Sunday for the warmest low temperature: It never got below 92 degrees.

Las Vegas on Sunday was flirting with a record high of 118.

In an effort to beat the heat, Natasha Ivory took four of her eight children Sunday to a water park in Mount Charleston, outside Las Vegas. “They’re having a ball,” Ivory told Fox5 Vegas said. “I’m going to get wet too. It’s too hot not to.”

Jill Workman Anderson also was at Mount Charleston, taking her dog for a short hike and enjoying the view.

“We can look out and see the desert,” she said. “It was also 30 degrees cooler than northwest Las Vegas, where we live.”

On the more-humid East Coast, temperatures above 100 degrees were expected, though no excessive heat advisories were in effect for the region Sunday. On Saturday, Raleigh, N.C., reached an all-time record high of 106 degrees, with a maximum heat index of 118.

In the West, rare heat advisories were extended even into higher elevations, including around Lake Tahoe. Reno hit a high of 104 on Saturday, smashing the old record of 101.

In Arizona’s Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix, there have been at least 13 confirmed heat-related deaths this year, along with more than 160 other deaths suspected of being related to heat that are still under investigation, according to a recent report.

That does not include the death of a 10-year-old boy last week in Phoenix who suffered a “heat-related medical event” while hiking with family at South Mountain Park and Preserve, according to police.

At the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Ore., music fans coped by drinking cold water, seeking shade or freshening up under water misters. Organizers of the weekend revelries also advertised free access to air conditioning in a nearby hotel.

Angelica Quiroz, 31, kept her scarf and hat wet and applied sunscreen.

“Definitely a difference between the shade and the sun,” Quiroz said Friday. “But when you’re in the sun, it feels like you’re cooking.”

Associated Press writer Weber reported from Los Angeles, Beck from Omaha. AP writer Walter Berry in Phoenix contributed to this report.