In pictures: Las Vegas ‘most extreme heat wave’ on record

The temperature climbed to 115 °F shortly after 1 p.m. at Harry Reid International Airport, breaking the old mark of four consecutive days set in July 2005, according to AP News.

In fact, forecasters have been calling this “the most extreme heat wave” since the National Weather Service began keeping records in Las Vegas in 1937.

While hotels and casinos kept visitors cool with giant AC units, the scorching heat presented acute danger for homeless residents and others without access to safe environments.

For this purpose, officials have set up emergency cooling places at community centers across southern Nevada, The Guardian US reported.

Nevertheless, there have been at least nine heat-related deaths this year in Clark County, which encompasses Las Vegas, according to the county coroner’s office, and officials say the toll is likely higher, AP reported.

The Las Vegas area has been under an excessive heat warning on three separate occasions since June 1, well before the official start of summer, and not even halfway through July, experts have warned.

In fact, the record temperatures are expected to be extended into this weekend, meteorologists have warned.

And not only in Nevada or the west of the US, but in the east coast too. An excessive heat warning remains for the Philadelphia area, northern Delaware and nearly all of New Jersey, The Guardian reported.

The extreme heat is also exacerbating the threat of wildfires, with a longstanding drought that has dried out vegetation that fuels the blazes, experts say.

Photo: Wildfire in New Jersey’s Wharton State Forest (July 5)

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