Millions of people across the Western United States were broiling under record-breaking heat on Saturday, with little relief in sight over the coming days, according to forecasters. From Oregon to California to the deserts of Arizona, several cities have seen stifling temperatures in recent days. In Portland, Ore., temperatures were forecast to hover around 100 degrees for five straight days starting Friday, conditions that once would have been considered unusual for a region where summers were so mild that people rarely needed air-conditioners. The sweltering temperatures prompted Gov. Tina Kotek to declare a statewide heat emergency, warning that the extreme heat represented a “new normal” of a changing climate.

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Persons: Jacob Asherman, Tina Kotek Organizations: Western, Prediction, Gov Locations: Western United States, Oregon, California, Arizona, Las Vegas, Portland