Health · heat deaths double90 Million Under Heat Alerts as Phoenix Deaths Double in 110-Degree HeatAired August 20, 2026 at 3:16 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00More than 80 people are confirmed dead0:02from heat so far this year in Maricopa0:04County alone, more than double the same0:06period last year with 587 other deaths0:09still under investigation as about 900:11million Americans were under heat alerts0:12on August 20th. [music] The alerts0:14stretched from California to North0:16Carolina with high humidity amplifying0:18danger in the Southeast and dry [music]0:20extreme heat of 110 to 120° forecast0:23across the Southwest through August0:24[music] 21st. More than 70 million were0:27under alerts the day before. That0:29doubling [music] puts the confirmed toll0:31above 80. While the larger group of 5870:34cases has not yet been determined to be0:36heat related, leaving [music] the final0:37year-to-date count unresolved. In0:39Phoenix, the temperature topped 110°0:42Wednesday, part of a relentless pattern.0:4431 days so far [music] this year at or0:47above 110°, 10 more than a normal year,0:50and [music] 23 days where overnight lows0:52never dropped below 90, offering no0:54relief. An extended extreme heat warning0:56holds in Arizona through Sunday with0:58highs forecast at 110 to 111, and nights1:02[music] staying in the 90s after a heat1:04dome that has already broken dozens of1:06record highs this week. The same system1:08has kept Texas [music] at or above 100°1:11for nine straight days and pushed Miami1:13to its first 100° day since the 1940s,1:15[music]1:16where a 5-year-old died in a hot car in1:17Garland. The strain is visible on the1:19ground.1:20>> [music]1:20>> Phoenix closed the Echo Canyon Trail1:22from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Emergency1:25crews cooled a hiker whose core1:26temperature reached 104°, and cooling1:29and resident centers across the city are1:31operating 24 hours a day. What is not1:33yet known is how many of the 587 cases1:36will be confirmed, how long the dome1:38will hold alerts and record heat beyond1:39this week,1:40>> [music]1:40>> and whether hospitals in other states1:42under alerts are seeing additional1:44impacts still to be counted.1:46Like and follow for more stories that1:48matter.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗