The unprecedented heat wave in the northwestern US that hit Seattle, Washington state and Portland, Oregon has already claimed its first victims.
Local authorities link at least a dozen deaths in the two states to the intense heat that began late last week. AP.
The National Weather Service reported that temperatures reached 42.2 degrees Celsius in Spokane on Tuesday, the highest temperature ever documented in the city.
Seattle is now registering about 32 degrees Celsius after 42 on Monday. Portland, in turn, reached 46.6 degrees Celsius last Sunday.
The heat wave, which caused a local power company to impose continuous blackouts amid high demand, was caused by what meteorologists described as a high-pressure dome over the northwest and was exacerbated by climate change.
