Photography
Four states — Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah — are at the heart of yet another heat wave in the West that challenged records with dangerously hot temperatures. It will mark the third punishing heat wave in the West this summer. Though the daytime highs are projected to approach 130 degrees through Monday, the event is not likely to be as extreme as the one last week in the Pacific Northwest. However, temperatures will continue to challenge all-time highs around Las Vegas, Redding, Calif., Sacramento and a few other places between California’s Central Valley and southern Nevada.
ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
July 12 | Palmdale, Calf.
Children beat the excessive heat at DryTown Water Park, where temperatures reached 104 degrees. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)
July 12 | Palmdale, Calf.
People splash about at DryTown Water Park. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)
July 12 | Klamath Falls, Ore.
A man who escaped the Bootleg Fire takes shelter at a Red Cross evacuation center, as extreme heat and wildfires continue. (Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Reuters)
July 12 | Klamath Falls, Ore.
Mike Wilkes and his friend hug a Red Cross member at a Bootleg Fire evacuation center, as extreme heat and wildfires continue. (Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Reuters)
July 12 | Lancaster, Calif.
A man cools off at a cooling center inside the Museum of Art and History. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)
July 11
The sun rises onto the Panamint Mountain Range seen from Highway 190 during a weekend of extreme high temperatures in Death Valley National Park.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
July 11
With extreme record breaking high temperatures expected through the weekend, a photo shoot is done at sunrise when the temperature is only at 109 degrees in Death Valley National Park.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
July 11
Coachella Valley Horse Rescue Director Annette Garcia straps ice packs to rescue horse Smokey's legs to help keep him cool amid a water shortage at the rescue in Indio, Calif. 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 during the heat wave.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mario Tama/Getty Images
July 10
A family floats in rafts on Lake Natoma in Folsom, Calif.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
July 10
Kayakers and paddleboarders beat the heat on Lake Natoma.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
July 10
A family crowds a paddleboard on Lake Natoma.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
July 10
Cindy Griggs seeks refuge from the heat under umbrellas on a bridge in Folsom.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
July 10
A landscaper hauls palm fronds in the morning heat in Palm Springs, Calif. An excessive heat warning was issued for much of California through Monday. Climate models almost unanimously predict that heat waves will become more intense and frequent as the planet continues to warm.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mario Tama/Getty Images
July 10
With record-setting heat expected, people walk under misters at the Ranch at Death Valley in Death Valley National Park.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
July 10
The Osborne family from Memphis stops at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center to pose for pictures in front of the thermometer showing the temperature in Death Valley.
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
Melina Mara/The Washington Post
July 10
Residents cool off in the Whitewater River in Whitewater, Calif.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mario Tama/Getty Images
July 10
Max the dog dries off after a quick bath in the Whitewater River.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mario Tama/Getty Images
July 9
Amelia Banks wets her hair to stay cool while Sean Michael waits to wash his shirt at one of the few sources of running water near the Safe Ground community in Sacramento. California's Central Valley is under an “excessive heat warning” through the weekend with temperatures forecasted up to 115 degrees.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
July 9
Safe Ground staffer Kayley Glastell sprays Sylvia Saldana in an attempt to cool her off.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Volunteer Kayla Kitson hands out bottled water at an encampment for unhoused people in Sacramento.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
July 9
Curtis Taylor struggles to stay cool in his tent at the Safe Ground community for the homeless.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
July 9
Golden Davis cools off in a mister on the Las Vegas Strip.
John Locher/AP
John Locher/AP
July 9
Farmworkers replant vines at a vineyard in Davis, Calif.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
July 9
Farmworker Jose Martinez rehydrates during a break from planting in a Davis vineyard.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
July 9
Rosa Elena works in a vineyard in Davis.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
July 9
Farmworker Francesca Moreno drinks during a break in Davis.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
People try to stay cool on the shoreline of the American River in Sacramento.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Araceli Lopez pours herself a drink at the American River in Sacramento on July 10, 2021.
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
July 9
A train passes by as Daryl Luppino takes a break from his bike ride and drinks from a water bottle near Palm Springs.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mario Tama/Getty Images
July 9
People gather in a hotel pool after sunset during triple-digit heat in Palm Springs.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mario Tama/Getty Images
July 9
People walk by misters outside a downtown restaurant in Palm Springs.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mario Tama/Getty Images
July 8
A woman splashes water onto her face amid a heat wave in Sacramento.
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
July 8
Volunteers hand out water and ice at a Loaves & Fishes homeless services facility in Sacramento.
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
July 8
A woman takes a bottle of water and a bag of potato chips at a Sacramento cooling center.
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
July 8
Signs for a cooling center sit inside the Pacific Community Center in Glendale, Calif. The site opens as a cooling center when the temperature is over 95 degrees.
Jenna Schoenefeld for The Washington Post
Jenna Schoenefeld for The Washington Post
People sleep in a cooling center at the Capitol City Seventh Day Adventist Church in Sacramento
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
Max Whittaker for The Washington Post
July 8
Sister Libby Fernandez, executive director with Mercy Pedalers, hands a bottle of water to a person experiencing homelessness during a heat wave in Sacramento.
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
July 8
People sit in the shade at a park during a heat wave in Sacramento.
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
July 8
Electrician Manuel Contreras works during extreme temperatures inside an underground concrete electrical utility vault built for a new Los Angeles housing complex.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
Damian Dovarganes/AP
July 8
Sprinklers water the grass in Elysian Park in Los Angeles.
Jenna Schoenefeld for The Washington Post
Jenna Schoenefeld for The Washington Post
July 7
Sam Richardson uses a UV-blocking umbrella while walking in Elysian Park in Los Angeles.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
Damian Dovarganes/AP
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Credits
Photo editing and production by Stephen Cook