Death Valley sees its hottest day since 1913 at 130F and 50 million Americans are under heat advisories as blistering temperatures ravage the West Coast fueling wildfires and power outages
A brutal heat wave punishing the Western United States pushed temperatures toward all-time records for a third day on Sunday, as Death Valley in California, scorched at 130-degrees Fahrenheit was again one of the hottest spots on the planet.
A thermometer outside Furnace Creek Visitors Center in the heart of Death Valley showed 134 degrees Fahrenheit shortly before 4pm on Sunday, although a National Park Service ranger said that it was typically slightly above the official reading.
The National Weather Service recorded the temperature on Saturday at 130 degrees, which if verified would be one of the highest ever recorded on Earth.
The sweltering heat, which extended across much of the Pacific Northwest, pressured power grids and fueled major wildfires, including a blaze burning in Southern Oregon that threatened homes and knocked out electricity.
The National Weather Service issued excessive heat warnings across much of the region and cautioned residents that the high temperatures could be hazardous to the their health and that of loved ones, especially small children and the elderly.
A thermometer at Death Valley National Park in southeastern California shows temperatures soaring to 133 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday
George Harris is photographed by Margaret Owen as he displays a thermometer at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park in California on Sunday
: A man walks on the salt flats at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park in southeastern California on Sunday
Flames consume a vehicle as the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, tears through Doyle, California on Saturday
Rescue horse Dakota drinks water from a hose held by volunteer Alana at Coachella Valley Horse Rescue amid a water shortage at the rescue on Sunday
In Death Valley a ranger measured the sidewalk temperature outside the visitors center at 178 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday afternoon.
'I just came up here to see how hot it gets,' said Richard Rader of Scottsdale, Arizona, who said he had ridden his bike 10 miles across Death Valley on Sunday.
Other tourists got out of their air-conditioned cars only long enough to pose for pictures with the thermometer.
Firefighters working in searing weather struggled to contain a Northern California wildfire that continued to grow Sunday and forced the temporary closure of a major highway, one of several large blazes burning across the Western US.
In Arizona, a small plane crashed Saturday during a survey of a wildfire in rural Mohave County, killing both crew members on board.
The Beech C-90 aircraft was helping perform reconnaissance over the lightning-caused Cedar Basin Fire, near the tiny community of Wikieup northwest of Phoenix, when it went down around noon.
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Ranger Jennette Jurado takes a temperature reading of the ground in Death Valley National Park on Sunday. The temperature of the pavement reached 168 degrees
The well that normally supplies running water to the rescue recently broke and they have been relying on water donations from the community and local fire department to keep their 18 horses alive amid a heat wave in California
Coachella Valley Horse Rescue Director Annette Garcia comforts rescue horse Smokey after strapping ice packs to his legs to help keep him cool. Smokey has failed to properly shed his winter coat due to Cushing's disease and is particularly susceptible to heat
Officials on Sunday identified the victims as Air Tactical Group Supervisor Jeff Piechura, 62, a retired Tucson-area fire chief who was working for the Coronado National Forest, and Matthew Miller, 48, a pilot with Falcon Executive Aviation contracted by the US Forest Service.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
'Our hearts go out to the families of our brave wildland firefighters,' an Arizona Bureau of Land Management spokesperson said in a statement.
In California, officials asked all residents to reduce power consumption quickly after a major wildfire in southern Oregon knocked out interstate power lines, preventing up to 5,500 megawatts of electricity from flowing south into the state.
The California Independent System Operator, which runs the state's power grid, said Saturday the Bootleg Fire took three transmission lines off-line, straining electricity supplies as temperatures in the area soared.
'The Bootleg Fire will see the potential for extreme growth today,' the National Weather Service in Medford, Oregon, tweeted Sunday.
Pushed by strong winds, the blaze exploded to 224 square miles as it raced through heavy timber in Oregon's Fremont-Winema National Forest, near the Klamath County town of Sprague River.
A firefighter sprays water while trying to stop the Sugar Fire from spreading to neighboring homes in Doyle, California on Saturday
Flames consume a home as the Sugar Fire tears through the town of Doyle, California on Saturday. Doyle is a short distance from California's border with Nevada
Pushed by heavy winds amid a heat wave, the fire came out of the hills and destroyed multiple residences in central Doyle
To the southeast, the largest wildfire of the year in California was raging near the border with Nevada.
The Beckwourth Complex Fire - a combination of two lightning-caused blazes burning 45 miles north of Lake Tahoe - showed no sign of slowing its rush northeast from the Sierra Nevada forest region after doubling in size between Friday and Saturday.
Late Saturday, flames jumped US 395, which was closed near the small town of Doyle in California's Lassen County.
The lanes reopened Sunday, and officials urged motorists to use caution and keep moving along the key north-south route where flames were still active.
'Do not stop and take pictures,' said the fire's Operations Section Chief Jake Cagle.
'You are going to impede our operations if you stop and look at what's going on.'
Cagle said structures had burned in Doyle, but he didn't have an exact number.
Bob Prary, who manages the Buck-Inn Bar in the town of about 600 people, said he saw at least six houses destroyed after Saturday's flareup.
The fire was smoldering Sunday in and around Doyle, but he feared some remote ranch properties were still in danger.
'It seems like the worst is over in town, but back on the mountainside the fire's still going strong. Not sure what's going to happen if the wind changes direction,' Prary said.
Erratic winds were a concern for firefighters, Cagle noted, with gusts expected to reach 20 mph.
The blaze, which was only 9 percent contained, increased to 131 square miles. Temperatures in the area could top 100 degrees again Sunday.
It was one of several fires threatening homes across Western states that were expected to see triple-digit heat through the weekend as a high-pressure zone blankets the region.
Death Valley in southeastern California's Mojave Desert reached 128 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service's reading at Furnace Creek.
The inland region encompassing California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and part of New Mexico saw temperatures soar into the triple digits on Sunday
The intense heat wave in the Western United States continues into Monday, according to the latest forecasts
There appears to be no relief in sight as temperatures are likely to hover above 100 degrees for a large chunk of the Western United States throughout the week
Heat warnings and advisories have been issued by the National Weather Service affecting residents in California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada
The 10-day outlook calls for temperatures in most of the western United States to remain above average
The latest data indicates that there are some three dozen fires raging across the Western half of the continental United States
Unfortunately for residents of the Western United States, there doesn't appear to be any hope of getting rain in the next week
The official record for hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth is 134 degrees Fahrenheit, which was measured in Furnace Creek in Death Valley more than a century ago
The shockingly high temperature was actually lower than the previous day, when the location reached 130 F.
Death Valley also recorded a 130-degree day in August of last year.
If that reading and the one Friday are confirmed by experts as accurate, they will be the hottest highs recorded there since July 1913, when the Furnace Creek desert hit 134 F, considered the highest measured temperature on Earth.
The National Weather Service warned the dangerous conditions could cause heat-related illnesses.
Palm Springs in Southern California also hit a record high temperature of 120 F on Saturday, while Las Vegas tied the all-time record high of 117 F.
NV Energy, Nevada's largest power provider, also urged customers to conserve electricity Saturday and Sunday evenings because of the heat wave and wildfires affecting transmission lines throughout the region.
In Idaho, Governor Brad Little mobilized the state´s National Guard to help fight fires sparked after lightning storms swept across the drought-stricken region.