- The sizzling heat wave stretches

from Los Angeles to Omaha

as meteorologists warnup to 50 million people

to prepare for bouts of excessive heat.

Massive heat domes sendingtemperatures soaring

to 125 degrees in Death Valley, California

on Wednesday evening,

the city living up to its name

as record highs this weekare expected to flirt

with the 134 degrees set back in 1931.

Power companies urging residents

to scale back energyconsumption through Friday.

- Start thinking about things that you do

that use a lot of electricity

that you can move todifferent parts of the day.

So maybe you're runningyour dishwasher later

in the evening or earlier in the day.

Same with the washing machine and dryer.

- [George] A similar situation in Texas

where the power gridis again under strain,

following February's deadly winter storm

that led to power outages across the state

and killed 151 people.

(kids shouting)(water whooshing)

With the heat index expected

to top 100 degrees this week,

grid managers are trying toavoid rolling blackouts again,

so they're urging folks to conserve power,

especially in the late afternoon

between 3 to 7 p.m.

Houston resident PaulaThan briefly lost power

after an electrical equipment failed.

- It's frustrating, especiallywhen I'm working from home

and I have a dog who needs power,

so it's very frustrating.

- [George] Salt Lake City setting

a record 107 degrees on Tuesday.

The National Weather Service saying

it was the highest temperature ever set

in any month of the yeah,in the last 147 years.

At least eight statesfrom California to Montana

are under excessiveheat watches right now.

- I can't stand it.

I'm from the East Coast.

This is not for me.

- [George] The record busting heat

baking the US Southwest and into parts

of Montana and Wyoming

with several cities seeing temperatures

climbing near or above 110 degrees.

The extreme heat causingat least 28 large fires

in eight Western states.

This as a large swath of the West

faces dangerous drought conditions.

- Drought is getting worse week by week.

- [George] Temperatures in the West

are expected to remain high between now

and end of June.

George Thomas, CBN News.