RENO, Nev. (AP) — Las Vegas set another new record Friday and Albuquerque tied its high, but forecasters said a weeklong heat wave that saw temperatures in the triple digits earlier than normal for much of the U.S. Southwest. its last legs.
Slightly cooler weather was expected over the weekend, but the National Weather Service warned that it would be a short-lived reprieve before unseasonably warm weather returns next week.
Extreme heat warnings finally expired Friday evening across much of the Southwest, but continue into Saturday in Las Vegas, where it’s never been the hottest of the year.
“The heat wave will lose its grip on our region by Saturday evening,” the National Weather Service in Las Vegas said late Friday.
The new weather system “will lead to increased cloud cover and slightly cooler temperatures early next week,” the Phoenix Weather Service said. But “temperatures warm up again by the middle of next week as high pressure builds over the region.”
Friday’s high in Las Vegas was 110 degrees Fahrenheit (40 Celsius), breaking the old record of 109 F (42.7 C) set in 2013. It recorded a record high of 111 (43.8 C) on Thursday. had reached a temperature of 110 or higher. Temperatures should be 5 to 8 degrees cooler in Las Vegas by Sunday, the weather service said.
In an AP interview, National Weather Service meteorologist Frank Pereira said temperatures from southeastern California to Arizona will be slightly cooler today, but it will still be very warm.
Albuquerque, with this year’s normal high of 89 F (31.7 C), tied the record of 100 F (37.7 C) set in 1981 on Friday.
In Phoenix, the high Friday topped 113 F (45 C) for the second day in a row, but was 2 degrees shy of the daily record. The normal high for this time of year in Phoenix is 102 F (38.8 C).
Death Valley National Park, near the California line, reached 118 F (47.7 C) on Friday, but that too fell short of the daily record of 123 F (C) after reaching a record of 122 F (50 C) on Thursday.
The heat came Even weeks earlier than usual At higher elevations in the north – generally a dozen degrees cooler. That includes Reno, where this year’s normal high of 81 F (27 C) rose to 98 F (37 C) on Thursday and touched 98 F again on Friday, but fell short of the daily high of 100 F (37.7 C). )
There were no heat-related deaths or serious injuries in the Southwest, but a 68-year-old man was hospitalized in stable condition in Phoenix on Friday after suffering heat exhaustion while hiking a mountain trail. By the fire brigade.
Thursday at a campaign rally for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Phoenix, 11 people were taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion, where they were treated and released, fire officials said. Trump is scheduled to hold another rally Sunday at a park in Las Vegas, where the day’s high is expected to reach 104 F (40 C).
In Las Vegas, the Clark County Fire Department said it had logged 20 calls classified as heat exposure since midnight Friday, resulting in 12 transports to local hospitals. That includes eight calls and three transports on Friday.
Other highs in California on Friday included Needles at 110 F (43.3 C) and Palm Springs at 109 F (42.7 C). In Arizona, Tucson, Yuma and Bullhead City all topped 109 F (42.7 C). It was 107 F (41.6 C) in El Paso, Texas.
Andrew Tessler, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, said Friday that people better get used to it.
“Climate change is making everything warmer,” he said. “It’s the new normal. It’s not just this summer. It’s going to be hot every summer for the rest of your life.
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Associated Press writers Anita Snow and Ty O’Neill in Phoenix, Rio Yamad in Las Vegas and MK in Hartford, Connecticut. Wildman contributed to this report.
