The southwestern United States broke heat records Thursday after temperatures surpassed 43 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas, and the region’s first heat wave was expected to remain present for at least another day.
Although the official start of summer is still two weeks away, about half of Arizona, California and Nevada were under a excessive heat alertwhich will remain until Friday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
At a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Phoenix, 11 people suffered from heat exhaustion and were taken to the hospital, where they were treated and released, fire officials said.
The weather service in Phoenix said the city was experiencing “dangerously hot conditions.”
And in Las Vegas, the Clark County Fire Department reported it had responded to at least 12 heat exposure calls since midnight Wednesday. Nine of those calls involved a patient requiring treatment at a hospital. A county spokesperson said the number is likely higher, as heat can also play a role in other types of calls to the fire department, including those involving alcohol poisoning or when conditions such as fainting, dizziness or nausea are reported.
New all-time highs on Thursday included 113°F (45°C) in Phoenix, which surpassed the previous mark of 111°F (44°C) set in 2016, and 111°F (44°C) in Las Vegas, which surpassed the 110°F (43°C) last reached in 2010. Other areas of Arizona, California and Nevada also broke records by a few degrees.
The heat has arrived weeks earlier than usual even in places further north and at higher altitudes, typically cooler areas. That includes Reno, Nevada, where the normal high temperature of 81°F (27°C) for this time of year soared to a record 98°F (37°C) on Thursday.
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