Phoenix breaks 35-year-old daily heat record as more marks set to fall this week
Sep 25, 2024, 1:16 PM | Updated: 4:52 pm
Phoenix set a daily heat record on Sept. 25, 2024. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
(Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
PHOENIX — Phoenix broke a 35-year-old daily heat record on Wednesday, the first of multiple marks set to be shattered in the coming days as triple-digit heat lingers in the capital city.
The city hit 109 degrees at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, which the National Weather Service uses for the city’s official readings, at 12:39 p.m. The previous record high of 108 degrees was set in 1989.
At 12:39 PM MST Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport reached 109°. This breaks the previous record high of 108° set back in 1989. There's still plenty of heating left for today, so check back later to see just how high the temperature climbs! #azwx
— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) September 25, 2024
The high temperature eventually reached 113 degrees, the latest in a calendar year for 110 degrees in Phoenix history.
Is Phoenix normally this hot in late September?
The highs in Phoenix are normally 96-97 degrees this time of year, but not in 2024.
The forecast calls for highs of at least 110 degrees through Sunday, with new Phoenix temperature records expected each day at least through Tuesday.
Saturday is expected to be the hottest of the upcoming hot days, with a forecast high of 113 degrees, a whopping 5 degrees above the existing record for the date.
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The previous latest date with a high of 110 degrees in Phoenix was Sept. 19 in 2010.
Is Phoenix under an excessive heat warning?
Phoenix is under an excessive heat warning that is scheduled to last through the weekend.
The excessive heat warning for the low deserts of central and southwestern Arizona is scheduled to run until 8 p.m. Sunday.
Per city of Phoenix policy, the Echo Canyon and Cholla trails at Camelback Mountain and all Piestewa Peak trails are closed from 9 a.m. to 5 a.m. on days when excessive heat warnings are in effect.
How hot has Phoenix been this year?
Phoenix temperature records are nothing new in 2024. The city already set a standard for most days of at least 110 degrees in a year at 62 and counting. The old mark was 55 days in 2023.
Phoenix also endured a record-shattering 113-day streak of temperatures reaching triple digits, which finally ended last week.
And if that’s not enough, Phoenix’s 2024 “meteorological summer” (June-August) was the hottest on record, with an average temperature of 98.9 degrees.
