Vegas breaks temperature record as 'hazardous heat' bakes Southwest and California

If only it were true that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, at least when it comes to the weather.

Sin City reached a high of 111 degrees Thursday, making it the earliest recorded date Las Vegas has ever gotten to such a scorching temperature, the city's National Weather Service office said. But the record-setting numbers are not the sole purview of the gambling mecca, as the harshest part of summer has arrived in California and the Southwest two weeks before the season even begins.

The National Weather Service lists several large metro areas in the region as being exposed to "Max HeatRisk'' Thursday and Friday. Las Vegas is in the "extreme'' category, and Phoenix, Fresno, California, Albuquerque, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas, just below at "major.'' Las Vegas and Phoenix are predicted to surpass 110 degrees.

"Some areas of hazardous heat may persist into next week,'' the weather service's prediction center said. "Record-breaking daily high temperatures are forecast in portions of interior California, the Great Basin, and the Southwest.''

Thursday afternoon highs of over 100 degrees and even more than 110 in some areas were forecast across California, much of which was under excessive heat advisories. The weather service urged people to avoid laborious outdoor activity at the hottest times and not to leave children or pets in unattended vehicles.

"Car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes,'' the weather service said.

The threats stretched across a vast swath of the West. In Utah, dangerously hot conditions with high temperatures from 104 to 108 degrees were expected Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, parts of Nevada could see temperatures as high as 114 and 116 degrees. Southern Texas, which has been roasted by unseasonably hot conditions for weeks, is forecast to reach triple digit temperatures through the afternoon, including in El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley.

Multiple tornadoes across Midwest, mid-Atlantic; child killed in storm

At least one person was killed and several others were injured in a series of powerful storms that pummeled the Midwest and mid-Atlantic regions Wednesday, damaging homes, uprooting trees and snapping utility poles as a dayslong stretch of severe weather marches on.

Potential twisters were reported in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan through Wednesday afternoon and into the overnight hours, according to the National Weather Service.

A storm with winds of 90-95 mph sent a tree crashing into a home in Livonia, Michigan, 20 miles west of Detroit, killing a toddler and hospitalizing the boy’s mother and her 2-month-old infant, reported the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Twisters ramping up: There have been a lot of tornadoes this spring. Here's why.

Storms and possible tornadoes injured at least five people in Maryland who were trapped in a home in the Gaithersburg area, about 20 miles northwest of Washington D.C., authorities said. In nearby Baltimore, multiple homes were damaged in at least one suspected twister, among more than a dozen reported in Maryland.

Connor Belak, a meteorologist at the weather service's Baltimore-Washington office, said most the damage was limited, with toppled power poles and trees being the main concerns.

What made the storms notable were the conditions that led to the formation of tornadoes throughout the mid-Atlantic, Belak said. A warm front draped across the Potomac River fueled wind shear and instability, which, when combined with remnants of an east-bound storm system, triggered the storm outbreak across Maryland, Virginia and the West Virginia border.

"This was not your run-of-the-mill severe weather event" for the mid-Atlantic, he said.

A suspected tornado tore through Frazysburg, Ohio, a small village about 60 miles east of Columbus, packing streets with debris, leaving people with minor injuries and leading local authorities to set up an emergency shelter at a local school, according to the local police department. The National Weather Service reported tornado sightings in Knox County, Ohio, but the damage isn't considered extensive, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

Severe weather in forecast for the Northeast, southern Plains, Florida

Strong storms were expected to develop across the country later Thursday, bringing heavy rain and flood concerns to the southern Plains and mid-Atlantic regions, as well as the Florida Peninsula.

Damaging gusts of 60-70 mph are forecast for western Oklahoma and the eastern Texas Panhandle, where the most intense conditions are expected, the weather service's Storm Prediction Center said. Isolated wind damage is possible from New York to the Carolinas, while central and eastern Florida faces 55-65 mph wind gusts and potentially damaging hail.

Coastal flood advisories were in effect across Baltimore and New York throughout the morning as meteorologists with the weather service warned of rising waterways and flooding across low-lying areas. The poor weather in the Northeast is forecast to mostly clear out on Friday.

"New Yorkers should expect a period of heavy rain and thunderstorms sometime late tonight through the Thursday morning commute," the city's Department of Emergency Management said on X. "This may result in minor flooding across the city, particularly in low lying and poor drainage areas. Plan ahead & expect travel delays."

'It came and went very fast'

Lisa Allen, a resident of Livonia, Michigan, said she'd been checking forecasts all day, then suddenly heard the tornado coming.

"It came on very suddenly" at about 3:30 p.m., Allen told the Detroit Free Press. "Then I said, 'I better get in the basement,' and no sooner did I – I didn't even make it to the basement – and it was over. It came and went very fast."

Allen had large tree branches down in her front yard and a trampoline flipped upside down in her backyard. She said she recalled surviving high winds at her house about 15 years ago, and "today was a little stronger."

Livonia Emergency Preparedness Director Brian Kahn confirmed on the city's website that Livonia officials did not receive any warning of the tornado's approach from the National Weather Service. The weather service referred to it as "a spin-up storm" that did not appear on radar screen with enough time to warn Livonia.

Dozens of large trees were felled in Livonia by the storm, which later swept with diminished force across metro Detroit's northern suburbs.

More than 13,000 utility customers were without power across Michigan by early afternoon, according to the USA TODAY outage tracker. The majority of outages were reported in counties throughout the southeast region of the state.

– Jenna Prestininzi, Detroit Free Press

National weather radar

Contributing: Detroit Free Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vegas sets record as 'hazardous heat' bakes California and Southwest