Phoenix set to break record for 110-degree days as extreme heat plagues West Coast
(PHOENIX) — Extreme late-season heat is plaguing the West Coast from Los Angeles to Seattle with heat alerts issued for more than 65 million Americans across six states.
Phoenix has surpassed 110 degrees 55 times this summer, tying the record set just last year. Phoenix is expected to break that all-time record Thursday as temperatures are forecast to reach near 114 degrees.
Over the last 30 years, Phoenix has seen an average of just 21 days a year over 110 degrees.
There have been 177 heat-related deaths in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and its suburbs, from January through August, according to the Maricopa County Department of Health. The deaths of 436 other people are being investigated as to whether they are heat-related.
Last year, 645 heat-related deaths were recorded in the county, according to the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.
Phoenix reached 111 degrees on Wednesday, extending its record for the most consecutive days at 100 degrees or higher to an even 100. The previous record was 76 days at 100 or above.
Elsewhere in the West, record temperatures of 106 degrees are possible in Medford, Oregon; 102 is possible in Portland, Oregon; and 91 degrees is possible in Seattle.
In addition to record heat, a red flag warning has been issued for Washington state, where very low humidity and hot temperatures could help spread wildfires.
Numerous wildfires have been burning in Oregon and some evacuations have been issued.
The hot weather will continue for the West through this weekend.
Long Beach, California, could get close to a record 100 degrees on Saturday and Boise, Idaho, could approach a record 95 degrees on Sunday.
(FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.) — The body of a 33-year-old woman who was swept away in flash flooding at the Grand Canyon has been discovered, according to the National Park Service.
Chenoa Nickerson of Gilbert, Arizona, had been missing since Thursday afternoon when heavy rain triggered a flash flood that washed her into Havasu Creek in the Grand Canyon, about a half mile from where the creek meets the Colorado River, according to the NPS.
Nickerson’s body was discovered at approximately 11:30 a.m. Sunday by a commercial river trip near river mile 176 in the Colorado River, the park service said in a press release.
Park rangers responded and recovered the body, which was transported to the rim of the canyon by helicopter and transferred to the Coconino County medical examiner.
An investigation into the incident is being conducted by the medical examiner and the NPS, according to the release.
At the time she disappeared, Nickerson was not wearing a life jacket, officials said.
Earlier Sunday, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs activated the National Guard to help in the emergency rescue operations.
The search for Nickerson — described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall, 190 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes — was focused in the Beaver Falls area of the Grand Canyon, the National Park Service said, adding that rescue crews were searching by ground, air and boat. Nickerson was last seen wearing a black tank top, black shorts and blue hiking boots.
The National Park Service said Nickerson had been staying at a campground near the village of Supai on the Havasupai Reservations at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
“We love her very much and are not giving up on her,” Nickerson’s family previously said in a statement to ABC News.
Nickerson was hiking at the time torrential rains hit and washed her into Havasu Creek, officials said.
The National Weather Service said the area received between 1 to 2 inches of rain within 60 to 90 minutes.
Other tourists camping and hiking in the area became trapped by the floodwaters, emergency officials said. The flooding also prompted rescues of residents at the Havasupai Indian Reservation in the Havasu Canyon area of the Grand Canyon.
The Havasupai Tribal Council said in a statement Saturday that all trails leading into and out of the small village of Supai in the Grand Canyon were made unpassable by the storm. The area is a popular tourist destination for its blue-green waterfalls, including Havasu Falls, which features a 100-foot vertical drop.
The Tribal Council said a campground near Supai sustained extensive damage from the flooding and had to be evacuated and closed.
“The Tribal Council’s focus is the health and safety of the tribal members and those that provide services in Supai,” according to the council’s statement.
“My heart is with all of the people impacted by the flooding in Havasupai, including tribal members and visitors to the area,” Hobbs said in a statement. “I am closely monitoring the situation and we have deployed the Arizona National Guard to get people to safety. The safety and security of Arizonans and all those who visit our state is always my top concern, and I’ll continue working closely with leaders on the ground to protect the Havasupai community.”
National Guard officials said it used helicopters to evacuate 104 tourists and residents of the Havasupai Indian Reservation from flooded areas by Saturday afternoon.
Supai resident Rochelle Tilousi told ABC News that at one point she was cut off from her children by the rushing flood waters.
“We could see the children running trying to beat the flood, but they couldn’t,” Tilousi said, adding that the children survived the flooding and are now safe.
She said her family’s pets were washed away by the flood.
“There is part of our village that is still flooded,” Tilousi said Saturday.
Editor’s Note: Chenoa Nickerson was not wearing a life jacket when she was swept away by floodwaters. This story has been updated to reflect that information.
ABC News’ Vanessa Navarrete contributed to this report.
(VICKSBURG, Miss.) — A Mississippi bus crash that killed seven people, including a 16-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother, occurred after a tire failure apparently caused the motor coach to run off a road and overturn, authorities said.
The crash that occurred Saturday east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, left 37 people injured, officials said.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced the preliminary findings of an investigation into the crash early Saturday near Vicksburg.
“The NTSB, in coordination with the Mississippi Highway Patrol, is sending a go-team to conduct a safety investigation into Saturday’s crash involving a motor coach roadway departure and roll-over after experiencing a tire failure while on Interstate 20 near Vicksburg, Mississippi,” the NTSB said in a statement posted on X.
Six people were pronounced dead at the scene and one person died at Merit Heath Hospital in Vicksburg, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol. The co-driver was not transported to a hospital, authorities said.
Warren County Coroner Doug L. Huskey told ABC News on Sunday that all of the people killed in the incident were from Mexico, including the 16-year-old girl and her 6-year-old brother.
Huskey said those who perished in the crash have been identified and that the Mississippi Highway Patrol is expected to release the names of the deceased on Sunday afternoon.
The 2018 Volvo commercial passenger bus was driving westbound on Interstate 20 when it drove off the road Saturday just before 1 a.m. local time.
In addition to the teenager and her brother, three men and two women were killed in the crash, Huskey told ABC News.
The crash is being investigated by the MHP and the Commercial Transportation Enforcement Division.
(SEATTLE) — A man has been arrested after he allegedly carjacked an 80-year-old dog walker, leaving her with fatal injuries before stabbing her dog to death, according to police.
James K. Hayes, a 48-year-old Seattle resident, was found and arrested Thursday morning in the murder of 80-year-old Ruth Dalton.
Police expect he will be charged with first-degree murder, murder during the commission of a robbery and first-degree animal cruelty. He has eight prior felony convictions — including a vehicular homicide conviction from 1993 — and a history of mental health concerns.
Police said he had a knife on him with blood on it when he was arrested.
Police were able to identify the suspect after they received a 911 call reporting that an individual was hurting a dog. An animal control officer then responded to the scene and found a dog that was stabbed to death. The dog was wearing a tag identifying the victim as its owner and the victim’s car was found nearby.
Crime scene investigators were able to lift fingerprints from the victim’s phone, which was in the car, and identify the suspect.
Seattle Police responded to a report of a carjacking on Wednesday and found a citizen giving aid to a woman who was down on the road.
Officers took over life-saving efforts until Seattle Fire Department officials showed up and took over. The victim died of her injuries Wednesday, police said.
Witnesses then told investigators that they had seen a struggle between the woman and the suspect inside the vehicle while the vehicle was moving. The vehicle then drove off the road and a struggle between them continued with the suspect trying to push the victim out of the vehicle as she resisted, according to police.
A witness then stopped their car in the road and came to assist her and the suspect took out a knife. The witness then backed away and retrieved a stick or bat and came back to try and help the woman, according to police.
The car then began to move across the road and crashed into two parked vehicles and the woman was struck during the crash. The suspect drove away from the scene and the victim was left on the street.
Police believe the suspect then drove to a park, stabbed the dog and fled on foot.
“We want to thank the community for the heroic actions of passers-by who just happened to see something like this happening and tried to intervene,” Eric Barden, the deputy chief of the Seattle Police Department said during a press conference.
Police said they are unsure how the suspect got into the car before the carjacking and said that is under investigation. Police do not believe the suspect and the victim knew each other — they think it is a random incident.
There were at least two dogs in the car, one of which escaped the car.
“This is a tragic and horrific incident where a wonderful member of our community was active and participating vibrantly in her community at 80 years old and that was snatched from her and from her family and friends and the community by virtue of this senseless violent act,” Barden said.