Phoenix on target to tie or break multiple heat records in coming days

PHOENIX – With high temperatures lingering well above normal, Phoenix is on target to tie or break multiple heat records in the coming days.

“The first one will be Friday. We’ll be looking at a high forecast around 79 degrees, which is also the record high for that date,” Isaac Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday morning.

While Phoenix is expected to only tie its record on Friday, the forecast calls for new marks to be set on Sunday and Monday.

What are the Phoenix heat records that might fall?

The high temperature is expected to be 79 degrees at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which the NWS uses for the city’s official readings, each day through Saturday before rising to 81 on Sunday and 80 on Monday.

The existing heat record for Sunday’s date (Dec. 14) is 78 degrees from 2010. The mark for the next day of 79 degrees is over 80 years old. It was set in 1942 and tied in 1969.

The average Phoenix high temperature for this time of year is 66 degrees. Highs are expected to stay 10 degrees or more above that level at least through next week.

“We currently have a very strong ridge of high pressure over the Western U.S., and that continues to persist over the region. So, as a result, that’s why we’re seeing these well-above-normal temperatures across the area,” Smith said.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Colton Krolak contributed to this report.

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