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Phoenix hits 100 degrees Fahrenheit for a record 100th straight day as heat scorches western U.S.
It’s always hot this time of year in central Arizona, but 2024 is proving to be an endless summer with especially high temperatures in Phoenix. On Tuesday, the city hit its 100th straight day with at least 100 degree temperatures. That’s long since shattered the record of 76 days in a row set back in 1993, according to data from the National Weather Service.
“That is definitely an eye-catching number,” NWS meteorologist Sean Benedict said.
The temperature hit 102 F in Phoenix on May 27 and has made it to triple digits every day since. In 2023, Phoenix — also known as the “hottest large city in America” — endured a record 31 consecutive days of 110-plus degree weather in July.
Benedict said that long streaks of desert heat usually are broken up by rain, but the monsoon hasn’t delivered much. The persistent heat also got an early start, with the triple-digit days already piling up in May.
It doesn’t look like a break is coming any time soon.
Unseasonably high temperatures are expected this week across the western U.S., with an excessive heat warning forecast for Wednesday through Friday in Arizona cities including Phoenix and Lake Havasu City, as well as Las Vegas and other parts of Nevada, including Laughlin and Pahrump.
Public health officials in Arizona’s Maricopa County — where Phoenix is located, the hottest metro area in the U.S. — say that as of Aug. 24 there had been 150 heat-related deaths confirmed so far this year, with another 443 under investigation. Arizona has the country’s only chief heat officer. Dr. Eugene Livar saw a rollout of a new extreme heat preparedness plan and used social media to urge people to take caution during hot days and to avoid hiking during peak temperatures. The Arizona Department Forestry and Fire Management also issued fire warnings for several counties to reduce incidents of wildfires.
There were 645 heat-related deaths last year in the county of some 4.5 million people. Heat has hit homeless people in Phoenix particularly hard. Non-profit group Circle the City, which works in multiple cities and hospitals and treats about 9,000 people annually, introduced its IV rehydration program in Phoenix. Nearly half the 645 people who died due to heat in 2023 were homeless.
Pretty much any way the data is parsed, 2024 marks another record-breaking summer of heat in Phoenix. It’s been the hottest meteorological summer, which includes the months June, July and August. And it’s the same story throughout the western U.S. with several locations in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico setting records or coming close.
Heat hits parts of the western U.S.
Across California, red flag warnings for increased wildfire risk were issued. A blaze that broke out Monday and was fed by erratic winds knocked out power and prompted evacuation orders for more than 500 residents of a remote forest community near Lake Tahoe. The Bear Fire about 20 miles north of Truckee grew to more than 2 square miles by Tuesday morning, with zero containment.
The California desert communities of Palm Springs, Twentynine Palms, Needles and Barstow will also heat up, with highs of up to 118 F in Death Valley’s Furnace Creek expected at week’s end.
Cooling centers were set up across Los Angeles County, where officials urged residents to check on neighbors who are elderly, unwell or otherwise vulnerable amid soaring temperatures. “Hot days aren’t just uncomfortable — they can be dangerous,” said L.A. County Health Officer Muntu Davis. Since July 3, the city has activated cooling centers for 19 days, officials said.
There’s no respite from the heat for outdoor vendors. It’s the same story for plenty of other people in the Phoenix area, particularly construction workers and landscapers.
Ramiro Lopez has been doing landscaping in suburban Phoenix for five years and says each summer feels hotter than the last. Between jobs, he takes breaks in his air-conditioned truck to stave off the heat, but the past three months have been a grind.
“I’ve learned to drink lots of sports drinks and make sure I’m done by 1 p.m.,” Lopez said. “Otherwise, it’s just too much.”
In Phoenix, there have been 37 nights this summer that didn’t cool off below 90 F, another record.
There have also been 54 days of 110 degree temperatures, which is just one day away from breaking the record of 55 days last year. That number could be broken later this week. The heat is tough for everyone, but is particularly difficult for low-income areas.
“Not being able to cool off at night can affect people’s health because heat can accumulate in the body,” Arizona State University climatologist Erinanne Saffell wrote in an email response. “Folks should make sure to stay cool and hydrate.”
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What’s known about Ryan Wesley Routh, suspect in possible Trump assassination attempt
A picture is emerging of the suspect who officials say pointed a high-powered rifle at former president Donald Trump on a Florida golf course Sunday afternoon.
Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was armed with an AK-47-style rifle and was 300-500 yards away from Trump when members of the former president’s Secret Service detail spotted him, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw. Routh was a few holes ahead of where the president was golfing at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, officials said.
Members of the Secret Service detail opened fire at Routh, according to law enforcement officials. It’s not clear if Routh fired any shots. Bradshaw said a witness saw a man jumping out of the bushes and fleeing in a black Nissan. The car was pulled over and the driver detained and identified as the suspect. Law enforcement found the rifle, a scope, two backpacks with ceramic tile and a GoPro camera in the bushes at the scene.
The FBI and U.S. Secret Service are investigating the incident, which the FBI said “appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump.”
As the investigation continues, here’s what we know about Routh:
A decades-long criminal history
Routh’s most recent address is listed in Hawaii, but he spent most of his life in North Carolina, according to property records. Routh owned Camp Box Honolulu, a shed-building company, according to his LinkedIn profile. The account also says that he studied at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and graduated in 1998.
Records show his problems with the law go back to the 1990s and include less serious charges, like writing bad checks. But in 2002, he was charged with a felony — possession of a weapon of mass destruction — according to North Carolina Department of Corrections records.
Between 2002 and 2010, Routh was also charged with a number of misdemeanors, including a hit-and-run accident, resisting arrest and a concealed weapons violation, records show.
Suspect criticized Trump online
Routh voted Democratic in the 2024 primary election in North Carolina, and he voted in person, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. He appears to be registered as an unaffiliated voter.
His X account, which has now been suspended, included a number of posts about Trump.
“@realDonaldTrump While you were my choice in 2106, I and the world hoped that president Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointment and it seems you are getting worse and devolving,” he wrote in a June 2020 post. “I will be glad when you gone.”
He also referenced the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump in multiple posts, suggesting that President Biden and Vice President Harris should visit the injured and attend the funeral of the Pennsylvania rally-goer who was killed.
A Facebook account under Routh’s name was no longer online on Sunday evening.
Ukraine supporter
Routh was passionate about fighting for Ukraine, even traveling overseas to fight in the country’s war against Russia in 2022.
“I am coming to Ukraine from Hawaii to fight for your kids and families and democracy.. I will come and die for you,” he wrote on X.
In one post on LinkedIn, he shared a photo of himself in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.
A CBS News review of Routh’s social media shows his pro-Ukraine views seeped into his public statements as well. He urged people, even those who didn’t have military skills, to take up arms for Ukraine. He was interviewed by several news organizations, including The New York Times and Semafor in 2023, and Newsweek Romania in 2022. He was quoted about his efforts to recruit volunteer fighters to aid Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, though it wasn’t clear whether he had succeeded.
“This is about good versus evil,” he told Newsweek Romania.
contributed to this report.
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