It was difficult to set foot outside on Saturday in Phoenix. Like the day before. And the day before. For the past two weeks, Arizona has been hit by an extreme heat wave sweeping across the southern United States.
“It is unsustainable. I think [que vendredi] afternoon, the temperature rose to 49 ° C, ”says Raphaël Charron-Chenier, established in Phoenix.
In six years, the Quebecer had never seen that. On Saturday, the mercury exceeded 43°C for the 23e day in a row. The longest heat wave ever recorded in the capital of 1.6 million inhabitants.
Outside, the city has turned into a furnace. From sunrise to sunset, the sun beats down, murderer. “You feel like you get a sunburn in 30 seconds. All surfaces are hot,” he says.
In this heat, even the air conditioning doesn’t work miracles: “I think it’s 32°C in the house. »
In Arizona, heat waves are common. They come back every summer. But this year it’s different. There is no respite. Not for two weeks.
“Spikes of heat, there are every summer. What is special this year is that the extreme heat lasts a long time, ”says the assistant professor of sociology at Arizona State University.
“After 15 minutes outside, you feel dizzy”, testifies in turn Guillaume Brassard, on vacation in Phoenix. On Saturday, the streets of the city were almost empty.
“There’s not much to do except walk around the air-conditioned shopping malls and stay at the hotel with the swimming pool,” continues the Quebecer, who has lived in California for 22 years.
He considers himself lucky: the weather should be warmer when he gets home. It is announced “only” 30 ° C Sunday in Dublin, where he lives.
Hot until at least July 28
More than 75 million Americans were under excessive heat warnings as of Saturday. “A dangerous and long-lasting record heat wave will continue in the Southwest through the weekend,” the US Weather Services (NWS) warned.
Extreme temperatures are expected to continue until at least July 28, then ease somewhat thereafter.
The heat is believed to have claimed at least 18 lives in the Phoenix metro area, with another 69 deaths attributed to it, as of July 15.
“As this devastating heat wave continues, the risk of heat-related death, illness and injury will only increase,” Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs warned.
In California, Death Valley and its highest temperatures on the planet attract tourists, the latter wanting to take their picture alongside a screen displaying constantly rising temperatures.
PHOTO RONDA CHURCHILL, FRANCE-PRESSE AGENCY
The Death Valley thermometer read 56°C last Sunday, although the maximum temperature officially recorded in the Californian park is instead 54°C.
Some are waiting for the absolute record on Earth – 56.6°C recorded there in 1913 –, disputed by some experts, to be beaten.
A 71-year-old man died there earlier this week and Death Valley National Park rangers suspect “heat played a part” in his death, which would make it the second of the year under the circumstances.
For the rest of July, the heat wave is expected to move toward the central United States, towards the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains of the Midwest, according to the United States Oceanic and Atmospheric Observation Agency.
With Agence France-Presse and USA Today