DEATH VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — Even as desolate areas known as one of the hottest places on Earth are condemned, hundreds of Europeans tour the American West and adventurers from around the United States are still drawn to Death Valley National Park. Dangerous heat wave Cause of death of motorcyclist week end.
French, Spanish, English and Swiss tourists left their air-conditioned rental cars this week to take away photos of a barren landscape different from snow-capped mountains and rolling green hills. Although officials at the park in California warned visitors to be safe, American adventurers loved its novelty.
A long exposure image of the thermostat at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center taken after 10:00 pm on Sunday, July 7, 2024 in Death Valley National Park, California. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
« I was excited it was going to be so hot, » said Drew Belt, a resident of Tupelo, Mississippi, who wanted to stop in Death Valley, the lowest point in the United States, on his way up Mount Whitney in California. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Like walking on Mars.
A scorching heat wave ravaged large parts of the US leading to daily records High temperature In Oregon, it is suspected to have caused six deaths, the state medical examiner's office said Tuesday. more than 161 million people Heat warnings were in place across the US, especially in the western states.
Dozens of places in the West and Pacific Northwest tied or broke previous heat records over the weekend, and are expected to continue doing so this week.
In Death Valley National Park, tourists line up for photos in front of a giant thermometer near the National Park Service Visitor Center. It's not as accurate, recording temperatures 1 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit lower than modern instruments placed by the nearby National Weather Service, giving the images a more impressive reading.
A man uses an umbrella to block the sun while waiting to take a photo at the « Welcome to Las Vegas » sign, Monday, July 8, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP via Wade Vandervoort/Las Vegas Sun)
said Dan Berg, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Las Vegas.
« It's an incredibly popular spot, as you can see from the visitors behind me, » said supervising park ranger Jeanette Jurado, whose thermometer read 120 F (48.9 C) Tuesday, « but even in winter, people find 80 degrees in December unusual and picture-worthy. »
An extreme heat warning is also in effect for much of Washington and Oregon on Tuesday, with temperatures in areas likely to reach 110 F (43.3 C), posing a high risk of heat-related illness, the National Weather Service said. . Temperatures were expected to reach 100 F (37.7 C) Tuesday in parts of Idaho, including Boise.
The early US heat wave came as global temperatures were warmest in June For the 13th consecutive month It marked the 12th straight month the world was 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times, the European climate service Copernicus said. Much of this warming is trapped by human-caused climate change, scientists say, and long-term warming from greenhouse gases emitted by burning coal, oil and natural gas.
In eastern California's sizzling desert, Death Valley National Park recorded a weekend high of 128 F (53.3 C), where a visitor, who has not been identified, died Saturday of heat exposure. Another person has been hospitalized.
They were among six motorcyclists who drove through Badwater Basin in bad weather, the park said in a statement. Four others were treated at the scene. Emergency medical helicopters were unable to respond because aircraft typically cannot fly safely above 120 F (48.8 C), officials said.
Death Valley is considered one of the most extreme environments in the world. The hottest temperature officially recorded on Earth was 134 F (56.67 C) in July 1913 at Death Valley, although some experts dispute that measurement and say the actual record was 130 F (54.4 C), set in July 2021.
« It's impressive, » Thomas Mrzliek, of Basel, Switzerland, said of the triple-digit heat. « It's like a wave that hits you when you get out of the car, but it's very dry heat. So it's not in Europe.
Across the desert in Nevada, Las Vegas had already reached 103 F (39.4 C) at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and could approach 120 F (48.8 C) again by the end of the day.
« Extreme heat waves will continue to set records through the end of the week before moderating as monsoonal moisture increases, » the National Weather Service in Las Vegas said.
In Arizona, Phoenix and Yuma reported average temperatures for the first eight days of July, according to the National Weather Service in Phoenix. It said both cities will be 10 degrees above normal over the next few days, with highs of 112 F (44.4 C) and 120 F (48.8 C).
Extreme heat and prolonged drought in the West have also dried up vegetation that fuels wildfires.
In California, firefighters battled at least 18 wildfires on Tuesday, including one that burned 41 square miles (106 square kilometers) in the mountains of Santa Barbara County. The Lake Fire is only 12% contained, and forecasters warned of a « volatile mix » of high heat, low humidity and northwesterly winds.
North of Los Angeles, the 2-square-mile (5-square-kilometer) Vista Fire chewed through trees in the San Bernardino National Forest and sent a large plume of smoke across the region. A small but smoky fire, known as the Royal Fire, burned 150 acres (60 ha) of forest west of Lake Tahoe and rained ash over the tourist town of Truckee, California. The fire was still not extinguished on Tuesday.
The National Weather Service said Tuesday that it will extend a high heat warning for much of the American Southwest through Saturday morning.
« The unusually high temperatures are now forecast to last through Friday, then Saturday morning's low with increased cloud cover may be the warmest of the entire episode, » the service in Reno said. « Thursday could be the hottest day for most places, so it's not over yet. »
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Snow has been reported from Phoenix. AP reporters Peggy Borer in Juneau, Alaska; Christopher Weber and John Antsak in Los Angeles; and Scott Sonner and Gabe Stern in Reno, Nevada contributed to this report.
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