31-day heat challenge: Phoenix sets record for consecutive days above 110 degrees
The triple-digit temperatures punishing Phoenix set a new record over the weekend as the city continues to suffer under a heat wave that’s pressing down on millions of people across the American Southwest.
Phoenix hit a high of 112 Sunday, marking its 31st consecutive day where temperatures spiked above 110 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. The milestone obliterated a previous record of 18 days set in June 1974.
“It certainly has been an unusual record stretch of really extreme heat,” said Tom Frieders, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix.
Average maximum temperatures in July in Phoenix hover between 106 and 107 degrees. But this last month, the city recorded 17 days above 115 degrees — marking yet another record, Frieders said.
A visit to Death Valley National Park has profound consequences for a veteran of extreme temperature. “I thought I knew heat.”
Though Phoenix is accustomed to sizzling summers, the persistence of this weather pattern has made it especially miserable. Overnight temperatures have struggled to dip below 90 degrees, meaning relief has been but a dream for the city’s 1.6 million residents.
But that unwelcomed streak of 115-degree temperatures may end at 31 days.
Thunderstorms moved into the area overnight, lowering the temperature Monday morning to 82 degrees. Monday’s high is forecast to be 108 degrees, according to the weather service. The near normal temperatures are expected to last through Tuesday.
Arizona will limit development in the Phoenix area after a study found the available groundwater isn’t sufficient to meet long-term water demands.
Yet residents of Phoenix are being advised to brace for broiling days ahead, with temperatures forecast to jump back above 110 degrees late this week into the weekend. The mercury could even rise above 115 again, Frieders said.
The city’s month of misery is part of a worldwide heat wave that has made July the hottest month on record. Phoenix-area hospitals have seen a spike in visits for heat-related illnesses. Patients are also coming in with burns from falling on the pavement, which can reach up to 180 degrees.
Experts say the conditions underscore how human-caused climate change increases the frequency and duration of extreme heat events.
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