As the US South and West grapple with an unprecedented heatwave, people in the East are dying after torrential rains.
Los Angeles – The South and West of the The United States is currently groaning under an unrelenting heat wave. Thermometers have been showing temperatures above 40 degrees for several days. Cooling down is out of the question for the time being.
Heat wave in USA: 52 degrees in California – flash flood on the east coast
The extreme heat wave in the United States has now reached a preliminary peak. 52 degrees Celsius prevailed in Death Valley on Sunday (July 16). The previous reliably registered record was 54.4 degrees in 2020 and 2021. The temperature is expected to surpass even that in the national park in California, one of the hottest places on earth.
Visitors got an impression of the “life-threatening daytime heat” according to the National Weather Service NWS, which is expected to last until Tuesday evening. The heat felt like “burning” on the skin, Eliana Luna told MSNBC. “You can feel the heat running down your back.”
Heat in the USA: Wildfires in California
Some parts of Nevada and Southern California were measured at 46 degrees Celsius. “From southern Florida to the Gulf Coast to the Southwest, more than 80 million people continue to have either one Excessive heat warning or heat warnings‘ NWS said. The heat, which poses health risks, is expected to continue for several days.
Firefighters are battling three wildfires in southern California. The fires were less than 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles in Riverside County, officials said. Two were contained, the third had expanded to 18 square kilometers. Almost a thousand houses had to be evacuated.
Ember heat has lasted in Phoenix for 17 days
In Phoenix, in the southwestern state of Arizona, 45 degrees were reached on Sunday afternoon – for the city it was the 17th straight day with high temperatures above 43 degrees. 34 degrees Celsius were already measured in the morning hours – also a new record. The city has an extreme heat warning until Wednesday evening.
“We’re used to 43, 44 degrees, but not tracks like this,” said Nancy Leonard, a 64-year-old retiree from the suburb of Peoria. Because of the intense heat, she currently only goes outside with the dog in the morning for a few minutes and then again in the evening before sunset. “You just have to adapt,” she says.
Heat warning issued for Miami for the first time ever
Even in Miami, in the sun-drenched state of Florida, a warning about extreme heat has been issued for the first time ever. The reason given by the authorities was that the mixture of heat and humidity meant that a “perceived” temperature of 44 degrees was expected.
The NWS Las Vegas office tweeted that this heat wave was not typical desert heat. “Their long duration, the extreme daytime temperatures and warm nights” are unusual, the weather service said.
Several people die in Pennsylvania floods
Over the south of the USA a so-called heat dome has formed. A high-pressure area that traps hot air like a lid in a region is called a heat dome. The high pressure prevents the formation of clouds, which means that the sun’s rays can warm up the earth unhindered. At the same time, the pressure causes air masses to sink, which warms the air and further increases the heat. According to scientists, the climate change causes heat waves to be more frequent, hotter and longer lasting.
The residents of the east coast states are currently experiencing another extreme of weather. After extreme rains they have flooding to fight. So far, five people have died in Pennsylvania due to the water masses. Two children are still considered missing. According to authorities, 18 centimeters of rain per square meter fell within an hour. Cars were swept away by the water masses. Extreme heat also prevails in Western Canada, where hundreds of people have died so far. (mt/afp)
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