Infrared guns fight the heat on US Airways flights in Phoenix
US Airways Express had to cancel 19 flights over the weekend because of a heat wave that has hit the West.
"We’re good up to about 118 degrees, but the temperature hit 119 in Phoenix," spokesman Todd Lehmacher told TravelMole.
US Airways has a "pretty robust plan in place" that includes employee cooling stations on the ramp to keep them hydrated. A heat team monitors the temperature of airplanes waiting at the gate, using infrared guns pointed at aircraft to make sure they don’t get too hot.
Three flights on Saturday had to make extra fuel stops, but overall, "being based in Phoenix we’re pretty used to operating out of the heat," Lehmacher said.
That’s a good thing, as the National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning for large parts of California, Nevada, and Arizona, and a heat advisory for other parts of Nevada.
The heat warnings continue until Wednesday, when temperatures are expected to drop a couple of degrees.
In Las Vegas, the streets shimmered at 117 degrees yesterday, a new record for even this hottest of towns. Temperatures are expected to rise above 115 again today.
At Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada, park rangers are dissuading people from hiking. A Boy Scout troop leader died of heat exposure there last month, when temperatures were lower.
The digital thermometer in California’s Death Valley National Park became an attraction over the weekend, as the temperature reached 128 degrees, tying the record for the hottest June day ever anywhere in the country.
A crew of 19 firefighters died in the town of Yarnell, about 80 miles northwest of Phoenix, after the heat and wind cased a fire that raged out of control, destroying half of the 500 homes in a small town.
Meteorologists said the intense heatwave was caused by a high pressure system hanging over the western United States.
"I’m not worried as much about the people who have lived here a while," said Sgt. Troy Stirling, police spokesman in Lake Havasu, Arizona, near the California state line.
"It’s more the tourists coming into the area, even from Southern California, who aren’t used to this kind of heat."
By Cheryl Rosen, TravelMole US, and Diane Evans, TravelMole UK
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