A severe heatwave has hit the western United States for the third day in a row with record temperatures since records were kept and the thermometer showed yesterday, Sunday, in Death Valley, California, 54 degrees Celsius.
The thermometer outside the Furnace Creek Visitor Center in the heart of Death Valley was just 56.6 degrees Celsius just before 4 pm local time yesterday, and a National Park Service foreman said the temperature was usually slightly higher than indicated.
Yesterday at noon, a ranger measured the temperature on the sidewalk outside the visitor center and it was 81.1 degrees Celsius.
The sweltering heat that swept across much of the Northwest Pacific caused power outages and major forest fires, including one in southern Oregon that threatened homes and led to power outages.