Searing heat grips parts of US, causes deaths in the West

death valley, california — A searing heat wave gripped large parts of the United States on Monday, with record daily high temperatures in Oregon suspected to have caused four deaths in the Portland area following a motorcyclist's death in dangerous heat over the weekend in Death Valley, California.

More than 146 million people around the U.S. were under heat alerts Monday, especially in the Western states. California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Idaho on Monday were under an excessive heat warning, the National Weather Service’s highest alert, while parts of the East Coast as well as Alabama and Mississippi were under heat advisories.

The early U.S. heat wave came as the global temperature in June reached record warmth for the 13th straight month and marked the 12th straight month that the world was 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times, the European climate service Copernicus said.

Dozens of locations in the West and Pacific Northwest tied or broke previous heat records over the weekend and are expected to keep doing so into the week.

In Oregon’s Multnomah County, home to Portland, the medical examiner is investigating four suspected heat-related deaths recorded Friday, Saturday and Sunday, officials said. Three of the deaths involved county residents who were 64, 75 and 84 years old, county officials said in an email. Heat also was suspected in the death of a 33-year-old man transported to a Portland hospital from outside the county.

Portland broke daily record temperatures Friday, Saturday and Sunday and was on track to do so again on Monday with a forecast high of 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 Celsius), National Weather Service meteorologist Hannah Chandler-Cooley said. High temperatures were expected in Portland through Tuesday evening.

“We are looking at the potential for breaking more records,” she said.

The temperatures aren’t expected to reach as high as they did during a similar heat wave in the Pacific Northwest in 2021, which killed an estimated 600 people across Oregon, Washington and western Canada. But the duration could be problematic because many homes in the region lack air conditioning. Round-the-clock hot weather keeps people from cooling off sufficiently at night, and the issue is compounded in urban areas where concrete and pavement store heat.

Heat illness and injury are cumulative and can build over the course of a day or days, officials warn. In San Jose, California, a homeless man died last week from apparent heat-related causes, Mayor Matt Mahan reported on the social platform X, calling it “an avoidable tragedy.” San Jose police said the man's body had no obvious signs of foul play.

In eastern California's sizzling desert, a high temperature of 128 F (53.3 C) was recorded Saturday and Sunday at Death Valley National Park, where a visitor, who was not identified, died Saturday from heat exposure. Another person was hospitalized, officials said.

They were among six motorcyclists riding through the Badwater Basin area in scorching weather, the park said in a statement. The other four were treated at the scene. Emergency medical helicopters were unable to respond because the aircraft cannot generally fly safely over 120 F (48.8 C), officials said.

More extreme highs are in the near-term forecast, with a high of around 127 F (52.7 C) expected in Death Valley on Monday, and possibly 130 F (54.4 C) around midweek.

The largest national park outside Alaska, Death Valley is considered one of the most extreme environments in the world and is among the hottest during the summer. The hottest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth was 134 F (56.67 C) in July 1913 in Death Valley, though some experts dispute that measurement and say the real record was 130 F (54.4 C), recorded there in July 2021.

“While this is a very exciting time to experience potential world-record-setting temperatures in Death Valley, we encourage visitors to choose their activities carefully, avoiding prolonged periods of time outside an air-conditioned vehicle or building when temperatures are this high,” park Superintendent Mike Reynolds said.

Across the desert in Nevada, Las Vegas set a record high of 120 F (48.8 C) Sunday and was forecast to hit a record high of 115 F (46.1 C) Monday. The National Weather Service forecast a high of 117 F (47.2 C) in Phoenix.

People flocked Monday to the beaches around Lake Tahoe, especially Sand Harbor State Park, where the record high of 92 (33.3) set Sunday smashed the old record of 88 (31.1 ) set in 2014. For the fifth consecutive day, Sand Harbor closed its gates within 90 minutes of opening at 8 a.m. because it had reached capacity.

“It’s definitely hotter than we are used to,” Nevada State Parks spokesperson Tyler Kerver said.