Record-breaking Heat in SW United States

Weekend's record-breaking heat claims two in Southwest

As storms and rain threaten much of the rest of the country, record-breaking heat in parts of the Southwest was believed to be responsible for at least two deaths this weekend.

NBC News,

9 June, 2013

Boy Scout leader Clawson Bowman Jr., a 69-year-old Las Vegas native, was found dead Saturday in Lake Mead National Recreation Area park, which straddles Arizona and Nevada. The rescue team saved four boys, all Boy Scouts, and another man, who were treated for heat-related illnesses.

"Our sympathies go out to the Bowman family," said Christie Vanover, a spokeswoman for the park, in a press release. "We are thankful that, with the support of around 30 first responders, the others were safely rescued. The boys were very brave this afternoon as they tried to explain their location to our dispatchers."

Vanover told NBC News that at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Lake Mead rangers got a phone call that te two adult males were suffering from heat stroke. But a medical examiner has not released the official cause of death for Bowman, Vanover said.

And on Friday, a 15-month-old baby boy died because of heat exposure in Fresno, California, according to the Fresno Bee. Local temperatures had reached 101 degrees and the child was unintentionally left in the car, officials said. He was pronounced dead at the Community Regional Medical Center.

Saturday brought one of the hottest temperatures Reno, Nevada has seen this early in June at 98 degrees. Last year at this time, the temperature was 81 degrees.

In Las Vegas, triple-digit heat of 112 degrees Saturday afternoon broke the previous high of 111 degrees set on June 8, 1955.

On Monday, temperatures in Sin City are expected to return to about 100 degrees for the rest of the week.

Meanwhile, there is a possibility of thunderstorms and showers for much of the country Sunday - from the Central Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes - with areas between Illinois and Arkansas to get the worst of it, NBC Meteorologist Dylan Dryer said.

“Isolated tornadoes are possible but not widespread,” Dryer said. She said the bigger threat is for brief damaging wind gusts and hail.

On the East Coast, more showers and thunderstorms are possible through late Monday afternoon. By Thursday, Dryer said the sun should be out and temperatures will warm up the mid-to-upper 70s.