Phoenix breaks 74-year-old daily heat record a week before Christmas
Dec 18, 2024, 4:54 PM
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
PHOENIX — Those wishing for some chilly temperatures as a stocking stuffer around Christmas in Phoenix aren’t getting their wish.
Phoenix broke a 74-year-old daily heat record on Wednesday when the high temperature eclipsed 79 degrees at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which the National Weather Service uses for the city’s official readings. The previous record was set in 1950.
The temperature for the day reached 83 degrees, the 36th day of 2024 where the high in Phoenix matched or exceeded the previous record.
Why is it so warm in Phoenix still?
It’s been a warm start to the month of December.
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With more than half of the month done, Phoenix has an average temperature of 62.5 degrees. The record average temperature for December in Phoenix is 63.1 degrees and was set in 2014.
The next couple of days won’t be any cooler.
The Phoenix forecast calls for highs in the low 80s on Thursday and Friday, about 15 degrees above normal and 2-3 degrees warmer than the records for those days.
On the other end of the daily range, the overnight lows for the next week are expected to be in the upper 40s and lower 50s.
A lack of rainfall hasn’t been helpful, either.
Phoenix hasn’t received measurable rainfall since Aug. 22.
The streak is the 13th longest on record, reaching 117 days on Tuesday. If it lasts until the end of the year, it will be the first rainless September-December ever recorded in Phoenix.
