Phoenix’s historic March streak of breaking daily heat records, triple-digit temperatures ends

PHOENIX – Phoenix’s historic March heat wave showed some signs of cooling down Thursday as the city narrowly missed reaching triple digits for a ninth consecutive day and fell just short of breaking the daily heat record.

Temperatures didn’t reach higher than 99 degrees at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which the National Weather Service uses for the city’s officials readings. That reading falls one degree shy of the March 26 record of 100 degrees set in 1988.

Notably, the only time Phoenix had ever reached triple digits in March before this heat wave began.

Still, the 99-degree reading underscores how anomalous such extreme heat is on this date.

Since 1985, March 26 temperatures in Phoenix have ranged from a chilly 61 degrees in 1989, when more than an inch of rain fell, to the lone 100-degree day set in 1988. Only four other years reached the 90s: 1986, 1990 and 2022 all hit 93. Last year reached 96.

The normal high temperature in Phoenix for this time of year is 80 degrees.

Relief expected by weekend

For the first time in more than a week, forecasters at NWS see an end to the record-breaking heat. A cold front pushing south across the nation is expected to finally reach the Southwest by Saturday, according to the weather authority.

Temperatures could return to more seasonal levels by the middle of next week.

Might there be some relief from this spring heat soon? We still have a few days to go, but there is good confidence that temperatures will back away from the triple digits by this weekend. We may even see the return of more seasonal temps by the middle of next week. #azwx #cawx pic.twitter.com/cXYlUApm6N

— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) March 26, 2026

The cold front has already brought relief to the northwestern and north-central United States, but its southern edge stalled earlier this week, allowing the heat wave to persist in Arizona, explained forecasters.

Nine days of heat records

The heat streak began March 18 and brought three 105-degree days, March 19 through March 21, the hottest March temperatures ever recorded in Phoenix.

March’s heat would have been virtually impossible without human-caused climate change, according to a report by World Weather Attribution, an international group of scientists who study the causes of extreme weather events.

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