RENO, Nev. — Records tumbled in the southwestern US on Thursday, as temperatures rose above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) in some areas, and the first heat wave in the region of the year was expected to maintain its grip for at least another day.
Although the official start of summer was still two weeks away, about half of Arizona, California and Nevada were under an extreme heat warning, which was extended until Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service.
At a campaign rally for a presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Phoenix Eleven people became ill from heat exhaustion late in the afternoon and were taken to the hospital, where they were treated and released, fire officials said.
The weather service in Phoenix described the city as having “dangerously warm conditions.”
And in Las Vegas, the Clark County Fire Department said it has responded to at least 12 heat exposure calls since midnight Wednesday. Nine of those calls ended with a patient requiring hospital treatment. A spokesperson for the province said the number is likely higher because the heat can also play a role in other types of calls to fire departments, including calls related to alcohol intoxication or when conditions such as fainting, dizziness or nausea are reported.
New record highs on Thursday included 113°F (45°C) in Phoenix, breaking the old 2016 mark of 111°F (44°C), and 111°F (44°C) in Las Vegas, up from the last reached 110°F (43 C) in 2010. Other areas in Arizona, California and Nevada also broke records by a few degrees.
The heat has arrived weeks earlier than normal, even in places further north and at higher elevations – areas that are typically a dozen degrees cooler. That includes Reno, Nevada, where the normal high of 81°F (27°C) for this time of year rose to a record 98°F (37°C) on Thursday.
The National Weather Service in Reno is forecasting mild cooling this weekend, but only a few degrees. In central and southern Arizona, that still means triple-digit highs, even up to 110°F (43°C).
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Associated Press writers Anita Snow and Ty O’Neil in Phoenix and Rio Yamat in Las Vegas contributed to this report.