Heat wave creates health hazard in southwestern US

Dangerously hot temperatures will grip the southwestern USA and California this weekend into next week, potentially taking out the previous record-high in Phoenix, where temperatures could top 115 degrees.

The National Weather Service is reporting that a strong ridge of high pressure will continue to build across much of the southwestern states early this week.

Warnings are in place for this period of what is expected to be heat of unsafe intensity and duration in a significant number of highly populated regions, including the large United States cities of Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona, Las Vegas in Nevada and Sacramento in California. Officials are warning residents about the need to keep hydrated, and opening cooling centers and public pools. The forecast calls for a high of 118 on Monday and 120 on Tuesday in Phoenix.

Heat records could also be challenged or broken in Las Vegas, Nevada, which could reach 116F (46.6C) on Tuesday and Wednesday, one degree short of a record set in 2013.

Las Vegas and nearby cities are preparing for the first heat wave of the season with extra cooling stations. Wunderground Weather Historian Christopher C. Burt told the AP that Phoenix temperatures rose to 120 degrees and above only three times in recorded history - twice in 1990 and once in 1995. In Southern California, the hottest temperatures will be in the deserts with highs over 110 degrees. The city typically experiences a high in the middle to upper 100s during the last half of June. Larger jets, such as Airbus and Boeing, aren't expected to be affected by this week's heat.

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A spokesperson for Sky International Harbor Airport said that so far, airport staff isn't aware of any other airlines that have cancelled flights due to the heat.

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Hadas Malka , 23, died shortly after being evacuated in critical condition to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Inside the Old City shops were open but the atmosphere was subdued and numbers of people much lower than normal.

Foster says young children are particularly vulnerable because their skin is more sensitive.

According to Apple, an iPhone is made to operate between 32 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and can be stored in temperatures between -4 and 113 degrees. The broiling temperatures will also be felt in Las Vegas and Southern California, creating a public health hazard.

"It'll be 110 soon", she said.

Jeff Masters of Weather Underground says that "most of the Central Valley will see temperatures approaching 43C and possibly up to 46C".

Temperatures below the rim of the canyon are expected to reach as high as 117 degrees this week.

The Tucson airport has no record of heat-related flight cancellations and has heard nothing regarding any possible cancellations of Tucson flights during the current heat wave, TIA spokesman David Hatfield said, noting that individual airlines make those decisions.