120 degrees in the shade! Record heat scorches West

Folks in the western U.S. are sweltering under an unusually intense June heat wave, with temperatures soaring to near-record highs from Oregon to Arizona.

Heat warnings and/or advisories were in effect Tuesday for a number of major metro areas in the West, including Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento and San Francisco.

In Palm Springs, California, where highs could hit 114 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday, officials warned that the weather could cause heat exhaustion, heat cramps or heat stroke.

In Las Vegas, shelters and temporary cooling stations were open during daytime hours because of that city’s excessive-heat warning. Highs there could hit 105 each of the next three days.

On Monday, normally mild San Francisco soared to a brutal high of 100 degrees, the first time that city has hit the century mark in June. The heat warped tracks on the city’s transit lines, the Weather Channel said, and led to thousands of power outages.

Monday also was only the seventh time on record that the city reached 100 degrees, AccuWeather said. More heat was forecast for Tuesday, where the average high for this time of year is in the upper 60s.

An excessive-heat warning was even in effect in typically hellish Death Valley, California, where a high of 120 degrees was forecast for Wednesday.

In the Northwest, the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory that extends through 9 p.m. Wednesday for the Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington, metro areas. Near-record highs in the upper 80s and 90s were forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday.