July 1, 2013
LAS VEGAS: A man died and another was hospitalized in serious condition on Saturday in heat-aggravated incidents as a heat wave blistered this sunbaked city and elsewhere in the southwest.
Forecasters said temperatures in Las Vegas shot up to 46° Celsius on Saturday afternoon, two degrees short of the city's all-time record.
July 1, 2013
LAS VEGAS: A man died and another was hospitalized in serious condition on Saturday in heat-aggravated incidents as a heat wave blistered this sunbaked city and elsewhere in the southwest.
Forecasters said temperatures in Las Vegas shot up to 46° Celsius on Saturday afternoon, two degrees short of the city's all-time record.
Phoenix hit 48.3° Celsius by mid-afternoon, breaking the record for June 29 that was set in 1994. And large swaths of California sweltered under extreme heat warnings, which are expected to last into Tuesday night — or even longer.
The forecast for Death Valley in California called for 53.3° Celsius on Saturday. Death Valley's record high of 56.6° Celsius, set a century ago, stands as the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.
Las Vegas fire and rescue spokesman Tim Szymanski said paramedics responded to a home without air conditioning and found an elderly man dead.
Paramedics said another elderly man suffered a heat stroke when the air conditioner in his car went out for several hours while he was on a road trip. He stopped in Las Vegas, called for help and was taken to the hospital in serious condition. The heat wave has sent more than 40 people to hospitals in Las Vegas since Friday, but no life-threatening injuries were reported.
"We will probably start to see a rise in calls Sunday and Monday as the event prolongs,'' Szymanski said.
About 160km south in Baker, the temperature peaked at an unofficial 47.2° Celsius in the road tripper's oasis in the Mojave Desert.
Elsewhere in Southern California, Palm Springs peaked at 50° Celsius while the mercury in Lancaster hit 43.9° Celsius — a record.
Courtesy: AP
