Roughly 130 million people were under threat over the weekend and will be into this week from a long-running heat wave that broke or tied records with dangerously high temperatures and is expected to shatter more from East Coast to West Coast, forecasters said. Ukiah, north of San Francisco, hit 117 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday, breaking the city's record for the date and tying its all-time high. Livermore, east of San Francisco, hit 111, breaking the daily maximum temperature record of 109 F set in 1905. Las Vegas tied the record of 115, last reached in 2007, and Phoenix topped out at 114, just shy of the record of 116 dating to 1942.
The National Weather Service said it was extending the excessive heat warning for much of the Southwest through Friday. "A dangerous and historic heatwave is just getting started across the area, with temperatures expected to peak during the Sunday-Wednesday timeframe," the National Weather Service in Las Vegas said in an updated forecast. In Las Vegas, Marko Boscovich said the best way to beat the heat is in a seat at a slot machine with a cold beer inside an air-conditioned casino. "But you know, after it hits triple digits it's about all the same to me," said Boscovich, who was visiting from Sparks, Nevada, to see a Dead & Company concert. Rare heat advisories were extended even into higher elevations including around Lake Tahoe.
Firefighters dispatched aircraft and helicopters to drop water or retardant on a series of wildfires in California. In Santa Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles, the Lake Fire has scorched more than 19 square miles of grass, brush, and timber. Firefighters said the blaze was displaying "extreme fire behavior" and had the "potential for large growth" with high temperatures and low humidity. The eastern US also was bracing for more hot temperatures. Baltimore and others parts of Maryland were under an excessive heat warning as heat index values could climb to 110, forecasters said.
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