Phoenix Has It Worse With a Sizzling 118 Degrees

If you can’t take the heat, get out of Los Angeles. But don’t come to Phoenix.

First of all, it has been very hot here. While Wednesday’s temperature didn’t break Tuesday’s all-time record of 122 degrees, thermometers still registered 118 degrees, surpassing by two degrees the record for June 27 in Phoenix. Even the night failed to bring relief--it was 112 degrees at 9 p.m. Tuesday, and the overnight low was 93, the highest minimum in Phoenix history.

Perhaps more important, another reason for overheated Southlanders to stay away is that they are unlikely to get sympathy from Phoenicians, who do not expect a respite from supercharged heat until September.

Take Tom Alsup, for instance--he just chuckled and shook his head when told that temperatures had soared past 100 in Los Angeles. “That’s just another fact of life here,” Alsup said as he took a breather from splicing cables for the US West telephone company.

Nevertheless, the last few days have been unusual, even by Phoenix standards. The record heat has been the talk of the Valley of the Sun, which, since Tuesday, has felt more like a valley on the sun.

Weather stories were front-page news, and the heat wave dominated the airwaves as local radio and television stations issued advisories on how to stay cool. Calls to the local recorded weather information line yielded only busy signals.

“It’s a big deal because it gives you a good reason to talk about (the heat) even though it gets hot here every summer,” said Scott Phelps, a spokesman for Mayor Paul Johnson.

In fact, Phelps said, the oven-like temperatures are so much a part of life that few special plans exist for heat emergencies. But the city did send out vans to pick up the homeless. About the only heat-related action Johnson has taken was issuing a recent proclamation telling city employees that neckties need not be worn.

“It’s hot here, but we’ve learned to like it,” Phelps said.

Still, officials said, excessive heat is not to be taken lightly, whether in Phoenix or anywhere else.

Indeed, the heat has taken its toll here. Authorities said the number of heat-related deaths rose to four Wednesday when a 57-year-old man in the suburban town of Peoria succumbed after his body temperature reached 108 degrees. Three other men died Tuesday from heat exposure.