Phoenix breaks 107-year-old daily heat record as temperatures stay way above normal

PHOENIX — A daily heat mark that had stood for more than 100 years in Phoenix was toppled on Thursday.

The mercury at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which the National Weather Service uses for the city’s official readings, hit 80 degrees by about 1 p.m. and got as high as 82 degrees on Thursday. The previous daily record high of 79 degrees was set in 1917.

It was the second straight day a daily heat record was set after Phoenix hit 83 degrees on Wednesday, surpassing the 1950 mark of 79 degrees.

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Temperatures are expected to remain well above normal in Phoenix into the weekend.

The Phoenix forecast calls for a high of 80 degrees on Friday, about 15 degrees above normal and 2 degrees warmer than the daily record. Saturday’s forecast high of 78 degrees is 1 below the daily record for winter solstice day, which was set in 2023.

The average temperature in Phoenix in December through 18 days is 62.6 degrees, a half-degree below the record average for the month set in 2014.

Phoenix has seen 37 days this year where the high matched or exceeded the previous record.

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