By Scott Sonner and Anita Snow
Adapted for Radio by S. Baxter Clinton
PHOENIX (AP) — Parts of California, Nevada and Arizona are expected to bake this week as the first heat wave of the season arrives with triple-digit temperatures forecast for areas including Phoenix, which last summer saw a record 31 straight days of at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius).
By Wednesday, most of an area stretching from southeast California to central Arizona will see “easily their hottest” weather since last September, and record daily highs will be in jeopardy from Las Vegas to Phoenix, the National Weather Service said late Monday.
The weather service said, Excessive heat warnings have been issued from 10 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday due to the “dangerously hot conditions.”
Fire crews will be on high alert especially in Arizona, where fire restrictions went into effect before Memorial Day in some areas and will be ordered by Thursday across most of the western and south-central parts of the state, authorities said.
Fire forecasters at the Southwest Coordination Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, said weather in the region doesn’t typically become so hot until mid- or late June.
Spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, Tiffany Davila, said Monday evening,“It does seem like Mother Nature is turning up the heat on us a little sooner than usual.”
She told The Associated Press, “We can’t back down from a fire just because it’s pushing 113 degrees outside. But we do keep a close eye on everybody in the field. Make sure they are keeping hydrated and taking more breaks than they normally would."
Highs on Monday reached 110 F (43.3 C) at Death Valley National Park in California near the Nevada line, 103 F (39.4 C) in Phoenix and 105 F (40.5 C) in Needles, California.
Slightly above normal temperatures are forecast for the region on Tuesday before they start heating up on Wednesday.
