'Widespread and oppressive': US heatwaves forecast to be more frightening

  

As climate change is making the temperatures break records in different countries, the Southwest, western Gulf Coast and southern Florida in the US are under heatwave warnings, with the country's weather agency predicting record temperatures in days to come.    

The National Weather Service (NWS) warned of "a widespread and oppressive heatwave" in parts of the Southwest, western Gulf Coast and southern Florida, risking the lives of millions of people.

In Arizona, the state capital Phoenix recorded its 17th straight day above 109 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius), as temperatures hit 113F (45C) Sunday afternoon.

The sprawling city, home to over 1.6 million people, is under an Excessive Heat Warning until Wednesday evening, according to the NWS, which said Sunday morning's low of 94F (34C) equalled its warmest low temperature on record.

"We're used to 110, 112 [degrees Fahrenheit] ... But not the streaks," Nancy Leonard, a 64-year-old retiree from the nearby suburb of Peoria, told AFP.

Leonard said that due to the intense heat, she spends only a few minutes outside during the morning, to walk her dog, and then later in the evening once the sun sets.

"You just have to adapt," she said.

Volunteers around Phoenix have been organised to direct residents to the cooling centers and distribute bottles of water and hats, but program head David Hondula told the local ABC station that its three-days-per-week schedule is "clearly... not enough."

In Uta's capital Salt Lake City, the temperature soared to 106F (41C) on Sunday, beating the previous record of 103F (39C) for the date.

The stationary high-pressure system covering much of the US southwest, known as a heat dome, brought temperatures in some parts of Nevada and southern California to above 115F (46C).

Near record heat

By Sunday afternoon, California's famous Death Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth, had reached the near-record temperature of 126F (52C).

Tourists visited the national park to get a glimpse of what the NWS warned would be a "life-threatening daytime heat" set to last until Tuesday night.

Visitor Eliana Luna told broadcaster MSNBC Sunday the heat felt like a "burning sensation" on her body.

"The heat, you can feel it dripping through the back, all the way down," she said.

The NWS has said heat is the leading weather-related killer in the US and urged people to take the risk seriously.

"In total, from South Florida and the Gulf Coast to the Southwest, over 80 million people remain under either an Excessive Heat Warning or Heat Advisory as of early this morning," the NWS said in a Sunday morning bulletin.

Authorities have been sounding the alarm for days, advising people to steer clear of outdoor activities in the daytime and to avoid dehydration, which can quickly become fatal in such temperatures.

In Miami, the NWS Sunday issued its first-ever Excessive Heat Warning for the region, in effect until 7:00 pm, as heat and humidity mixed to create a "feels-like" temperature expected to hit 112F.

"It's hell, it's hot, it's crazy hot," Miami visitor Lola Cee told AFP along the famed Ocean Boulevard.

"I've never experienced this heat before," she added.

Residents of the sprawling Texas city of Houston have been asked to conserve electricity from 2:00 pm (1900 GMT) to 10:00pm Saturday through Monday, in an attempt to mitigate pressure on the electricity grid.