This year is proving to be an endless summer with especially high temperatures in metro Phoenix. On Tuesday, the city hit its 100th straight day with at least 100 degree temperatures. That's long since shattered the record of 76 days in a row set back in 1993, according to data from the National Weather Service.
“That is definitely an eye-catching number,” NWS meteorologist Sean Benedict said.
Scientists say climate change caused by human activities is dialing up the thermostat around the world and increasing the odds of dangerous temperatures. That is because the driver of global warming — the release of greenhouse gases from the burning of fuels like oil, gas and coal — continues all but unabated. Extreme weather events like heat waves, wildfires, intense storms, and prolonged droughts will continue, according to researchers.
The temperature hit 102 F in Phoenix on May 27 and has made it to triple digits every day since.
Benedict said that long streaks of desert heat usually are broken up by rain, but the monsoon hasn’t delivered much. The persistent heat also got an early start, with the triple-digit days already piling up in May.
It doesn't look like a break is coming any time soon.
Unseasonably high temperatures are expected this week across the western U.S., with an excessive heat warning forecast for Wednesday through Friday in Phoenix and Lake Havasu City, as well as Las Vegas and other parts of Nevada, including Laughlin and Pahrump.
Maricopa County officials say that as of Aug. 24, there had been 150 heat-related deaths confirmed so far this year, with another 443 under investigation. There were 645 heat-related deaths last year in the county of some 4.5 million people.
Pretty much any way the data is parsed, 2024 marks another record-breaking summer of heat in Phoenix. It’s been the hottest meteorological summer, which includes the months June, July and August. And it’s the same story throughout the western U.S. with several locations in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico setting records or coming close.
Ramiro Lopez has been doing landscaping in suburban Phoenix for five years and says each summer feels hotter than the last. Between jobs, he takes breaks in his air-conditioned truck to stave off the heat, but the past three months have been a grind.
“I've learned to drink lots of sports drinks and make sure I'm done by 1 p.m.,” Lopez said. “Otherwise, it's just too much.”
In Phoenix, there have been 37 nights this summer that didn't cool off below 90, another record.
There have also been 54 days of 110 degree temperatures, which is just one day away from breaking the record of 55 days last year. That number could be broken later this week. The heat is tough for everyone, but is particularly difficult for low-income areas.
“Not being able to cool off at night can affect people’s health because heat can accumulate in the body,” Arizona State University climatologist Erinanne Saffell wrote in an email response. “Folks should make sure to stay cool and hydrate.”
Metro Phoenix forecast
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 109 and low around 86.
Thursday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 113 and low near 89.
Friday: Sunny and hot, with a high near 110 and low around 88.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 107 and a low around 85.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 107 and a low around 83.
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