Phoenix-area weekend forecast calls for temperatures approaching 80, sunny skies
Dec 15, 2023, 4:35 AM
The Phoenix forecast calls for unseasonably warm weather the weekend of Dec. 16-17, 2023. (Facebook File Photo/City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department)
(Facebook File Photo/City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department)
PHOENIX – It’s shaping up to be a weekend of glorious winter weather in the Phoenix area, with mostly sunny skies and unseasonably warm temperatures.
“We have high pressure that will be building in for this weekend, and that’s really going to be pushing our temperatures well above normal for this time of year,” Isaac Smith of the National Weather Service in Phoenix told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday.
Smith said Valley highs could approach 80 degrees Saturday and Sunday, nearly 15 degrees above normal. The overnight lows will be in the high 40s and low 50s.
Are 80-degree December temperatures unusual in Phoenix?
“We’ve had 80 degrees basically all the way up until the end of the month in previous years, so it’s not uncommon,” Smith said.
Phoenix didn’t see any 80-degree days in December 2022, but the mark has been reached twice so far this month. That included a high of 84 degrees on Wednesday, a record for the date.
Is there any rain in the Phoenix forecast?
The clear skies are expected to last into next week, with highs at least in the 70s forecast through Wednesday, but conditions could change as it gets closer to Christmas.
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“As we head into the latter part of next week, we’re going to be looking at the potential for a more unsettled weather pattern taking shape,” Smith said.
It hasn’t rained in Phoenix since 0.13 inches fell on Dec. 1.
The 2023 total of 3.45 inches is over 3 inches below normal.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.
