US Heatwave News: First Death From Record-Breaking ‘Heat Dome’ | US News
Officials in Texas confirmed the first death as a result of the ongoing “heat dome” that’s sending temperatures into the triple digits in many parts of the US.
Almost a quarter of the US population is under an extreme heat warning after the heat dome settled over the US southwest.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), heat domes occur in the United States when high atmospheric pressure conditions coincide with warm sea surface temperatures due to La Niña.
Heat domes typically cause extreme temperatures on the west coast and then expand as winds move hot air east and north across the country.
The current heat dome enveloping the southwest is expected to extend to North Carolina to the east this week.
Temperatures of up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit are expected in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Over the weekend, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico weathered the brutal heat wave the worst.
In Texas, authorities confirmed the first death related to the ongoing heat wave.
Victor Ramos, a 67-year-old Houston resident, was killed on June 24. On Friday, a coroner determined the man had died of accidental hyperthermia.
Family members said the air conditioner in Ramos’ house was broken and he couldn’t afford to fix it.
“He told me during the day that he wasn’t feeling well, that he was a bit tired,” Ramos’ sister Karla told local broadcaster KHOU. “I went to check on him at nine in the morning and found he was unresponsive.”
Temperatures in Houston rose to about 95 degrees Fahrenheit on June 24, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
In many cities in the southwest, temperatures reached or even nearly reached the highest temperatures ever recorded.
Las Vegas, Nevada reached 116 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday, just under one degree to break its record high temperature.
Reno, Nevada reached the highest temperature ever recorded at 108 degrees Fahrenheit.
Even Death Valley, already considered one of the hottest places on earth, came close broke its record temperature on Sunday after thermometers hit 128 degrees Fahrenheit.
The highest recorded temperature in the Mojave Desert valley was 134 degrees Fahrenheit.
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