Current:Home > MyPhoenix weathers 100 days of 100-plus degree temps as heat scorches western US -InfiniteWealth
Phoenix weathers 100 days of 100-plus degree temps as heat scorches western US
View
Date:2025-04-18 04:09:16
PHOENIX (AP) — Cam Ferguson gets to his spot on the street adjacent to Chase Field — home of Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks — about four hours before first pitch to set up his usual display of cold water, sports drinks, peanuts and candy.
By game time, it’s about 103 degrees Fahrenheit (39.4 degrees Celsius) on this Labor Day afternoon in downtown Phoenix. Business is brisk.
“Two for five, but it’s eight inside!” shouts another vendor, hawking water bottles. “Plus, they’re having some problems with the air conditioning in there.”
It’s always hot this time of year in central Arizona, but 2024 is proving to be an endless summer with especially high temperatures in 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.
The temperature hit 102 F (38.9 degrees C) 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 entire U.S. Southwest, with an excessive heat warning forecast for Wednesday through Friday in Arizona cities including Phoenix and Lake Havasu City, as well as Las Vegas and other parts of Nevada, including Laughlin and Pahrump.
The California desert communities of Palm Springs, Twentynine Palms, Needles and Barstow will also heat up, with highs of up to 118 degrees Fahrenheit (47.7 Celsius) in Death Valley’s Furnace Creek expected at week’s end.
Public health officials in Arizona’s Maricopa County — where Phoenix is located, the hottest metro area in the U.S. — 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 confirmed 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 southwest, with several locations in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico setting records or coming close.
Across California, red flag warnings for increased wildfire risk were issued. A blaze that broke out Monday and was fed by erratic winds knocked out power and prompted evacuation orders for more than 500 residents of a remote forest community near Lake Tahoe. The Bear Fire about 20 miles (32 km) north of Truckee grew to more than 2 square miles (5 square km) by Tuesday morning, with zero containment.
Cooling centers were set up across Los Angeles County, where officials urged residents to check on neighbors who are elderly, unwell or otherwise vulnerable amid soaring temperatures. “Hot days aren’t just uncomfortable — they can be dangerous,” said LA County Health Officer Muntu Davis.
There’s no respite from the heat for outdoor vendors. It’s the same story for plenty of other people in the Phoenix area, particularly construction workers and landscapers.
Ferguson’s job outside in downtown Phoenix is a hot one. The concrete and asphalt all over downtown makes it feel even hotter, with the heat radiating through the streets as more than 40,000 fans gather for a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Diamondbacks.
“Lots of SPF shirts and ice-cold water,” Ferguson said, about coping with the heat. “That’s the only way to get through it.”
Chase Field can be air-conditioned and has a retractable roof that is closed for most games during the middle of summer, which is obviously good for fans and players. But keeping the giant stadium cool in the summer is sometimes tricky, and players have occasionally commented about how surprisingly stuffy it gets inside.
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 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 degrees F ( 32.2 C), 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.”
___
Associated Press reporters Anita Snow in Phoenix and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
veryGood! (684)
Related
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- New and noteworthy public media podcasts to check out this month
- Marvel's 'Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur' is a stone cold groove
- Beatbox champion Kaila Mullady on the secret of boots and cats
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- 'Showing Up' is a rare glimpse of an artist at (very hard) work
- Here's a few of our favorite photos from the 2023 Dreamville Music Festival
- Mexican children's comic Chabelo dies at 88
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- HBO's 'Barry' ends as it began — pushing the boundaries of television
Ranking
- 'As foretold in the prophecy': Elon Musk and internet react as Tesla stock hits $420 all
- Behati Prinsloo Shares First Photo With Adam Levine Since Welcoming Baby No. 3
- See Gisele Bündchen Recreate Her 2004 Rio Carnival Look Nearly 20 Years Later
- We pack our knives and go deep on 'Top Chef'
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- An ode to playlists, the perfect kind of sonic diary
- The Outer Banks Cast Just Picked Their Favorite Couple Ship and the Answer Might Surprise You
- Netflix delayed the live reunion of 'Love is Blind,' but didn't say why
Recommendation
Alex Murdaugh’s murder appeal cites biased clerk and prejudicial evidence
'Rye Lane' is a fresh and charming rom-com that also feels comfortingly familiar
Sacramento will rename a skate park after its former resident Tyre Nichols
Susanna Hoffs' 'This Bird Has Flown' is a love story — and a valentine to music
Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
WWE apologizes for using image of Auschwitz concentration camp in a promo video
Wayfair Presidents' Day Sale: Shop Cuisinart, Home Decor, Furniture & More Deals Starting at $22
Writer Rachel Pollack, who reimagined the practice of tarot, dies at 77