Phoenix hits 100 days of 100° with no end to the streak in sight
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Phoenix has smashed heat record after heat record this summer and is on track to top some more as a deadly heat wave is forecast to arrive Wednesday.
Why it matters: Extreme heat is becoming increasingly common in Phoenix and the Southwest.
- Heat contributed to 645 deaths in metro Phoenix last year. The Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner has already confirmed 177 heat-related deaths this year and is investigating another 436.
State of play: Phoenix hit 100° for the 100th day in a row Tuesday, and the streak has no end in sight. The previous 100-plus-degree streak was 76 days, set in 1993.
- Phoenix's average temperature of the meteorological summer (June-August) was 98.9° — beating the record of 97° from last year, per National Weather Service Phoenix meteorologist Sean Benedict.
Flashback: 2023 saw higher individual daytime temperatures — Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport recorded 31 straight days of at least 110° from June 30 to July 30 — but this summer's heat started much earlier and has sustained since late May, Benedict told Axios.
- Last year's 100-degree streak was 66 days.
The intrigue: Four of the six hottest summers on record were in the past six years.
Context: Heat waves are becoming more common, intense and longer-lasting due to human-caused global warming.
- Climate change has been found to yield extreme heat events that would have been virtually impossible without today's high levels of greenhouse gases, put in the atmosphere largely by fossil fuels burnt for energy.
What's next: A strong heat dome will send temperatures soaring into 110-degree territory in Phoenix as early as Wednesday.
- The Valley will be under an excessive heat warning from Wednesday at 11am to Friday at 8pm.
- Thursday is expected to be the warmest day of the heat wave, with high temperatures forecast in the 110- to 114-degree range, Benedict said.
What we're watching: Phoenix has hit 110° 54 times this year, and this week's elevated temperatures will likely be hot enough to top last year's record of 55 110-degree days, Benedict said.
The bottom line: Just because we've made it through several months of hot weather does not mean we are fully acclimatized to handle the extreme heat we are expected to see this week, Benedict cautioned.
- "Anybody can be impacted by this heat, especially if you have long exposure outdoors," he said.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to note that four of the six hottest summers on record occurred in the past six (not five) years.
