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The official start of summer may still be nearly two weeks away, but national parks around the southwestern U.S. are already preparing for potentially record-breaking heat, with weather officials warning of dangerous conditions in many popular destinations.
In a forecast, the National Weather Service predicted that temperatures in Death Valley’s Furnace Creek could reach 121°F on June 10, high enough to surpass a 28-year-old record for that date. On June 11, the NWS forecasts a high of 120°F, just one degree shy of breaking a record high set on that day in 1921.
Death Valley officially holds the record for the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth for a 134°F day recorded in 1913. (Some observers have suggested that mark is inaccurate, however, and that the actual record high was a 130°F measurement taken in 2020.) Exacerbated by drought and climate change, records have fallen at an increasing pace in recent years: Last June was the park’s hottest on record, with an average temperature of 102.8°F. In total, seven daily temperature records fell that month, including a 128°F day on June 17 which broke the previous record by 6 degrees.
Due to its high visitation and often harsh climate, Grand Canyon sees more deaths than any other national park in the United States. From 2010 to 2020, the park reported a total of 134 deaths, many of those from heat illness. Last July, hiker Michelle Meder passed away from suspected heat illness after temperatures in the canyon crested at 115°F.
The National Park Service recommends that hikers heading into the Grand Canyon in the heat rest in the shade during the day, consume fluids regularly, wear light-colored, loose-fitting clothing, and monitor hiking companions for signs of distress.