Brutal, deadly heat wave fries Plains, Southeast

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Cities simmered with triple-digit temperatures Monday, toppling records in a heat wave blamed for deaths in at least six states.

Thermometers hit over 100 degrees in parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and the western tip of Tennessee, where Memphis hit a record 105, the National Weather Service said.

Monday was the fourth consecutive day of triple-digit highs in Memphis, where the heat was blamed for at least three deaths since Wednesday, health authorities said.

A truck driver who was working on his rig at a gas station when he collapsed and died Monday was among the three heat-related deaths in Arkansas, Pulaski County Coroner Mark Malcolm said.

South Carolina and Missouri have each reported one heat-related death, while across the state line in Illinois, officials blamed three deaths on the heat since Thursday.

In Alabama, Montgomery broke a record Monday with an eighth straight day of 100-plus heat, hitting 103 degrees.

A day earlier, the city’s streets steamed at 106.