Motorcyclist Dies After Inferno-Like Temperatures Soar To 128 In Death Valley

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A visitor to Death Valley National Park died Sunday from heat exposure and another person was hospitalized as the temperature reached 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53.3 C) in eastern California, 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.

The person who died was not identified. The other motorcyclist was transported to a hospital in Las Vegas for “severe heat illness,” the statement said.

The other four members of the party were treated at the scene.

“High heat like this can pose real threats to your health,” said park Superintendent Mike Reynolds.

The death comes as a long-running heat wave has shattered temperature records across the U.S.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A long-running heat wave that has already shattered previous records across the U.S. will persist, baking parts of the West with dangerous temperatures that will soar into the 100s and holding the East in its hot and humid grip throughout the week, forecasters said Sunday.

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 were expected to tie or break previous heat records, he said.

That was certainly the case over the weekend: Many areas in Northern California surpassed 110 degrees (43.3 C), with the city of Redding topping out at a record 119 (48.3 C). Phoenix set a new daily record Sunday for the warmest low temperature: it never got below 92 F (33.3 C).

A high temperature of