For weeks extreme heatwave has rampaged across the western United States and Canada claiming thousands of lives and igniting innumerable forest fires and the region has experienced the hottest June on record.
However, according to recent forecasts, the horrifying conditions aren’t over and record-breaking temperatures are to be registered in the states of California and Nevada in the coming days.
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Over 30 million people are under heat alerts across the western US states. Nearly the entire state of California is predicted to be impacted by this heatwave, in addition to the major metro areas in the Southwest.
On Friday, temperatures in California’s Death Valley rose to a scorching 130 degrees Fahrenheit as the West Coast’s third major heatwave in three weeks began on Friday.
If verified, the temperature in Death Valley on Friday matched one recorded in August 2020 – which some argue is the highest temperature ever reliably recorded on Earth.
A temperature of 56.7 degrees Celcius (134 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded in 1913, but this is contested by climate experts.
Meanwhile, in Nevada, people were evacuated from their houses near the Northern California border, after wildfires sparked by lightning struck portions of the Sierra Nevada forest region.
Forecasters predict the previous record of 47.2 degrees Celcius (116 degrees Fahrenheit) set in Las Vegas might potentially be surpassed. Meanwhile, Sacramento, California, has the chance to break its all-time high temperature of 114°F this weekend.
Fearing the worst, the National Weather Service has advised those affected to drink plenty of water and stay in air-conditioned buildings.
Matters got worse in Oregon when a wildfire fanned by strong winds in the Fremont-Winema National Forest grew from nearly 26 sq miles (67 sq km) on Thursday to nearly 61 sq miles on Friday. Evacuation orders have been issued in the area.
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Meanwhile, Canada, too, is bracing for extreme heat, though it is not expected to approach the temperatures seen at the end of last month when the village Lytton in British Columbia reached 49.6 degrees Celcius (121 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking the country’s highest recorded temperature.
The heatwave saw spikes in sudden deaths and increases in hospital visits for heat-related illnesses.
Firefighters battling the many wildfires in the region say the air is so dry that much of the water dropped by aircraft to quell the flames evaporates before it reaches the ground.