The desert area known as Death Valley in California, USA, has been breaking temperature records with an extreme heat wave. This Sunday, thermometers recorded the highest temperature on the planet. The National Weather Service recorded 54.4 degrees in the region, one of the highest ever recorded on Earth.

Thermometers analyzed in the heart of Death Valley showed the extreme number, although a guard with the National Forest Park Service explained to Reuters that temperatures are usually even higher than officially measured.

Still, tourists were brave enough to shake their air-conditioned cars for a moment just to pose in pictures with the thermometer.

The National Weather Service has issued extreme heat warnings for much of the region and warned residents that the high temperatures can be harmful to health, especially for children and the elderly.

The sweltering heat, which stretched across much of the Pacific Northwest, strained power grids and caused major wildfires, including a large wildfire in southern Oregon that threatened 1,200 homes and other structures. The fire, which started Tuesday, left thousands of acres in that region in the dark.

The fire was so raging that the 926 firefighters working to fight the blaze were forced in some cases to move to "predetermined safety zones."

The flames were near a corridor of high-voltage power cables that connect Oregon's power grids with California's, worrying officials that both states could experience supply disruptions that would affect thousands of homes and businesses.