Arizona is a state where, in spite of near annual record-setting high temperatures, the weather patterns are still marketed as a staple of Arizona living.
Arizona is notoriously hot; and for many, the mental image evoked by the state’s name is that of the glaring sun over saguaro speckled desert landscapes.
The heat’s notoriety goes way back, as exemplified in the1950s comedic song “Come to Phoenix” from Vegas radio personality Red McIlvaine.
But Arizona’s climate has also been a draw in the state’s earliest days where the dry, warm weather was believed to be a relief for tuberculosis. That draw continues today.
“Today's beautiful, cool, dry. We're used to a very wet, humid climate," said Suzanne, a hiker taking a seat after her trip at Camelback Mountain. She was joined by a friend, Christie.
“We came for the Fiesta Bowl, we’re Ole Miss Rebels," Suzanne said.
While it rained here on the day of the Fiesta Bowl, by noon the next day, there was hardly a cloud in sight.
Unlike Mississippi, where "we have snow and it's cold. Snow in the winter," Christie said. "Very dry here. Like, do you just breathe better? It's clean air, fresh air."
"That's what we were talking about coming down. I said, ‘I feel like I can breathe coming, you know, on this hike,'" Christie said.
They said Camelback was a must-see place on their trip.
“It's one of the things you have to do when you come here," Christie said.
"It's been great. We didn’t make it all the way up, I’m not gonna lie. But we’d do it again, it’s been beautiful," Suzanne said.
But hiking in metro Phoenix the summer is a different thing, where temperatures regularly climb above 110 degrees.
And with eight of the 10 hottest years on record happening since 2012, climate’s role in the state’s economy is becoming more complicated.
“I guess there's two aspects that pop up to mind. One has to do with agriculture and winter vegetable production. And the other has to do with tourism and outdoor recreation," said George Frisvold, an economics professor at the University of Arizona.
He says the state advertises itself as a place where people can escape one extreme temperature or the other.
Outdoor recreation is a big selling point, for tourists and Arizonans alike.
“They see going to a national park as a summertime pastime when the kids are out of school. And so you see a lot of visitation to the Grand Canyon and to parks, and of course, to northern Arizona," said Josh Coddington, who is with the state’s Office of Tourism.
He says when Phoenix cools down in the fall and winter months, people flock to the state in the hundreds of thousands every year. Those numbers bring big events.
“Barrett-Jackson, you have the Phoenix Open golf tournament, but then Cactus League. Cactus League is a gigantic, five-week-long event that attracts people here from every city who has a team in Arizona," Coddington said.
Coddington says the office’s latest numbers from 2024 indicate there was more than $33 billion in travel spending and that almost 200,000 jobs were generated as well.
“Tourism really is a critical component of Arizona and Arizona's economy," Coddington said.
Frisvold says that beyond tourism, the state’s climate is also conducive to winter agriculture — when Arizona provides the bulk of the nation’s green vegetables.
“Lettuce, spinach, but also things like broccoli, cauliflower, during winter months from about Thanksgiving to Easter, virtually all of that is coming from Yuma and the Imperial Valley," Frisvold said.
But Arizona’s heat is a double-edged sword.
Maren Mahoney is the director of the Arizona Governor’s Office of Resiliency.
“It has an impact on our housing and our energy grid. It impacts wildfires and the severity of the wildfires. And so it really kind of touches all aspects of our, of Arizona, our economy and our quality of life," Mahoney said.
Without AC, Arizona’s summer heat can be lethal. So a robust and reliable energy grid is essential. But that grid is now being asked to accommodate something else: data centers.
Arizona’s lack of natural disasters is one of the reasons, among affordable land and energy pricing, that is drawing data centers here.
With high temperatures also driving record energy usage, Mahoney’s office is working on policy recommendations to handle the energy behemoths.
“To develop some plans to be delivered in March to identify ways that we can continue that economic growth and continue attracting data centers, but the smart data centers that are using our natural resources responsibly," Mahoney said.
Frisvold says the state’s economic future could hinge on how the large energy users are managed.
“If suddenly, water supplies and electricity are not reliable, again, businesses thinking of locating here are going to take pause. People thinking of moving here, buying homes and things, they're going to take pause," Frisvold said.
That would make the state’s business climate start to cool.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Maren Mahoney's name.
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The “five C’s” — cattle, citrus, copper, cotton and climate — are a snapshot of Arizona history. While they aren't the main sectors of the state’s economy today, they speak to a time when Arizona came into its own, and for that, they will always matter. -
KJZZ examines the storied history of the state’s five C’s — copper, cotton, cattle, citrus and climate — and the role they still play in modern-day Arizona. -
KJZZ examines the storied history of the state’s five C’s — copper, cotton, cattle, citrus and climate — and the role they still play in modern-day Arizona. -
KJZZ examines the storied history of the state’s five C’s — copper, cotton, cattle, citrus and climate — and the role they still play in modern-day Arizona. -
KJZZ examines the storied history of the state’s five C’s — copper, cotton, cattle, citrus and climate — and the role they still play in modern-day Arizona.
