US reels under record-setting heatwave, experts says mercury to rise further

Widespread temperature records are expected to be tied or even broken during the heatwave

Portland: A slow-moving and potentially record-setting heatwave is spreading across the Western US, the National Weather Service said, sending many residents in search of a cool haven from the dangerously high temperatures.

The Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the US are also sweltering, with oppressive heat and humidity expected to last through Saturday. Widespread temperature records are expected to be tied or even broken during the heatwave, with much of the West Coast likely to see triple-digit temperatures that are between 15 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit (8 and 16 degrees Celsius) higher than average, the National Weather Service said.

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“The duration of this heat is also concerning as scorching above average temperatures are forecast to linger into next week,” the weather service said. In Portland, Oregon, suburb of Gresham, Sherri Thompson, 52, was waiting in her car with her 14-year-old chihuahua Kiwani for a cooling centre to open late Friday morning.

Thompson has lived in her car for three years and can only run its air conditioning for about 20 minutes at a time as it causes the engine to overheat. Thompson said the high temperatures prompted health concerns, as she had been hospitalised for a heat stroke in the past.

In Arizona’s Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix, there have been at least 13 confirmed heat-related deaths this year, while the causes of more than 160 other suspected heat deaths were still under investigation, according to the county’s most recent report on such deaths through June 29.

That doesn’t include the death of a 10-year-old boy earlier this week in Phoenix, who suffered a “heat-related medical event” while hiking with his family at South Mountain Park and Preserve, according to the Phoenix Police Department.