STORY:: Arizonans try to stay cool in ‘heat dome’ form
The Southwest pushes temperatures well above 100F
:: June 7, 2024
:: Phoenix, Arizona
“It’s dry heat, it kind of feels like you’re in an oven. For example, if you set your oven to 120 degrees and you just open it and stick your head in, it’s is Arizona. It’s dry, it’s minimal humidity, You know, there’s really no escaping it.”
“At first you start to feel a little tired, and then you sweat. And then eventually you start to kind of, I don’t know, feel a little uncomfortable sometimes, depending on the type of person. But usually you just start feeling sick, and then you end up on the floor if you don’t do something about it.”
“It’s really hot. Sometimes, if you go out, you feel like you can’t breathe. For me, it’s unbearable.”
Some 31 million people in northern California, south to Arizona and east to Texas, were under excessive heat warnings and heat advisories issued by the National Weather Service through Saturday.
Wednesday, June 6, the high temperature reached 113F. Several people were seen being evacuated on stretchers at a Trump event due to heat exhaustion after waiting in line for hours in extreme temperatures.
Phoenix was one of several cities in the Southwest region that experienced their hottest summers on record in 2023. Arizona’s capital endured high temperatures exceeding 110F for a record 55 consecutive days. Last summer, 645 people died in the Phoenix area from heat-related illnesses.