Flights cancelled as heat hits southwest
Airlines canceled flights in Phoenix and doctors urged people to be careful around concrete, playground equipment and vehicle interiors Monday as a punishing heat wave threatens to bring temperatures approaching 120 degrees to parts of the Southwestern U.S.
Arizona is seeing the most stifling temperatures, but the wrath of the heat wave is being felt across Nevada and California as well. Las Vegas was forecast to hit 47 Celsius on Tuesday on the first day of summer, and excessive heat warnings cover almost all of California.
Despite the dangers, the weather may not be as bad as originally expected. The National Weather Service had been forecasting Tuesday highs at 120 Fahrenheit or higher in Phoenix for the past several days, a number not seen in the desert city in more than 20 years, but it now predicts 119.
"That's deadly heat no matter how you slice it," weather service meteorologist Chris Breckenridge said.
The heat is a serious public health hazard in places such as Phoenix and Las Vegas.
The county that is home to Phoenix had 130 heat-related deaths in 2016, the highest number in more than a decade. The Arizona Department of Health Services says nearly 2,000 people visit Arizona emergency rooms every year because of heat-related illnesses.
Homeless people composed one-third of heat-related deaths in 2016, according to county records. Most of the others involved people with non-functioning air conditioners.