Officers first thought a gas line broke and caused the highway to buckle. Then came word that temperatures that hit at least 96 degrees in Spokane baked the pavement until it split a section of the highway a few miles south of the city.

According to the National Weather Service, the heat pushed into triple digits in several towns, including 102 in Wenatchee and Ephrata, 101 in Moses Lake and 100 in Lewiston. 

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