Persistent heat wave in the US shatters new records, causes deaths in the West and grips the East

Los Angeles (AP) — A long-running heat wave that has already shattered previous records across the U.S. persisted Sunday, baking parts of the West with dangerous temperatures that caused the death of a motorcyclist in Death Valley and held the East in its hot and humid grip.

An excessive heat warning — the National Weather Service’s highest alert — was in effect for about 36 million people, or about 10% of the population, said NWS meteorologist Bryan Jackson. Dozens of locations in the West and Pacific Northwest tied or broke previous heat records.

Many areas in Northern California surpassed 110 degrees, with the city of Redding topping out at a record 119 degrees. Phoenix set a new daily record Sunday for the warmest low temperature: it never got below 92 degrees.

A high temperature of 129 was recorded Saturday and Sunday at Death Valley National Park in eastern California, where a visitor died Saturday from heat exposure and another person was hospitalized, officials said.

The two visitors were part of a group of six motorcyclists riding through the Badwater Basin area amid scorching weather, the park said in a statement.