3 days ago
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A heat wave gripped large swaths of the Western U.S. on Saturday as temperatures hovered near record highs, heightening wildfire risks in areas that already are dry or burning and prompting warnings for people to stay inside.
A ridge of high pressure is holding heat close to the ground — what’s known as a heat dome — from Arizona to Montana, though the good news is that it will be relatively short-lived, National Weather Service meteorologists said.
Dangerous heat and warnings were plaguing the region, and the National Weather Service on Saturday forecast a number of cities that were expected to hit record highs. By late afternoon, Las Vegas reached 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius), the hottest temperature of the year; that’s just one degree off the daily record of 116F (47C). Phoenix was expected to reach 116F (47C), while El Centro, California, was expected to hit a record 118F (48C). Even parts of Montana were expected to broil, with a record 104F (40C) forecast for Great Falls.
In Las Vegas, Saturday’s high was 10 degrees above normal, with meteorologists warning of dangerous heat through Sunday, when the high is expected to be 114F (45C), said weather service meteorologist Morgan Stessman.
Overnight lows in the upper 80s to low 90s will make the situation especially dangerous because it doesn’t allow people’s bodies to recover. “There’s just no relief overnight,” Stessman said.
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