Deadly Southwest heat wave sets records
Wednesday June 22nd: The heat wave has broken. Here is a summary of stats from our news story:
Tuesday June 21st: Top temperatures recorded yesterday in California were as follows. Some of these tied or broke monthly or all-time records:
Death Valley: 126 Needles: 125 Blythe: 124
Monday June 20th: As we predicted, records have been broken across the Southwest U.S. and will continue to be today and tomorrow. Four people have been reported killed by the heat already in Arizona and wildfires are running rampant.
At least one flight has been divirted due to the heat. Here's a preliminary* look at the records broken yesterday, June 19:
The power demand is forecast at 46,603 megawatts, close to last year's highest (47,358) and only 3,400 megawatts below the highest usage ever, a record set in 2006. A "flex alert" has been issued, which encourages consumers to conserve energy, and will hopefully keep the record safe today. Average temperatures for the nation are climbing.
*We won't know the true number of records broken from NCDC until later this week, but I'll keep updating this blog entry.
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