Weekly Phoenix forecast calls for record high temperatures with no sign of rain
Dec 16, 2024, 2:01 PM
With more record high temperatures in the Phoenix forecast, it's a good time to enjoy the great outdoors. (Facebook Photo/City of Phoenix, AZ USA)
(Facebook Photo/City of Phoenix, AZ USA)
PHOENIX – Dry and unseasonably warm conditions are expected to persist in metro Phoenix this week, with more record high temperatures in the forecast.
Alex Young, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS), said the latest Phoenix record watch will start Wednesday, when the high is expected to match the mark of 79 degrees set in 1950.
“And then it looks like we’ll continue to either tie or potentially break the high temperature records through at least Saturday,” he said.
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.
Record high temperatures have been common in 2024
Phoenix already set one daily record this month, hitting 83 degrees on Dec. 3, 2 degrees above the previous high for the date. That was the 35th day of 2024 where the high in Phoenix matched or exceeded the previous record, according to the NWS.
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Halfway through the month, Phoenix is tied for the warmest December on record with an average temperature of 63.1 degrees, equaling the 2014 mark.
Meanwhile, there is no end in sight to a dry spell in Phoenix that is nearing the four-month mark.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which the NWS uses for the city’s official readings, hasn’t received measurable rainfall since Aug. 22.
The streak is the 13th longest on record, reaching 115 days on Sunday. If it lasts until the end of the year, it will be the first rainless September-December ever recorded in Phoenix.
Can Phoenix expect a dry Christmas?
“It looks like pretty much a guarantee the next seven days we will not see anything of measurable rain,” Young said.
And while things can change this far out, it looks like more of the same is in store for Christmas week.
“Maybe that potential could increase, but it still doesn’t look that great,” Young said.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s John Roller contributed to this report.
