Phoenix sets record for most 110-degree days in a single year
Sep 9, 2023, 1:21 PM | Updated: Sep 10, 2023, 5:04 pm
(KTAR News Photo/Taylor Kinnerup)
(KTAR News Photo/Taylor Kinnerup)
PHOENIX — Another heat record toppled Saturday when Phoenix set the mark for the most 110-degree days in a single year.
Arizona’s capital city hit 110 degrees at 1 p.m., making it 54 days in 2023 of reaching that mark, topping the previous record of 53 set in 2020.
How hot was it on Saturday in Phoenix?
Metro Phoenix set another daily record on Saturday with a high daily record as the temperature reached 113 degrees. The previous high was set in 2021 at 111 degrees.
The low temperature dipped to 87 degrees, which, according to the National Weather Service, was six degrees above normal.
How much more 110-degree heat will Phoenix have this year?
While the Valley has had more than its share of extreme heat in 2023, there’s a good chance Sunday or Monday will be Phoenix’s last 110-degree day until next year.
“It’s going to be very difficult to get to 110 beyond this current heat streak,” Chris Kuhlman of the NWS in Phoenix told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Friday morning.
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“So, I hate to say, ‘Yes, this will be the last,’ but it’s more than likely that will be the case, this will be our last stretch of 110s this summer.”
Although temperatures are expected to dip next week (yet still in the 100s), the dry conditions will likely persist. There’s a slight chance for showers early in the week, but nothing else resembling rain in the forecast.
What other Phoenix heat records have been toppled in 2023?
Phoenix set a record in July with a 31-day streak of highs at or above 110 degrees. The previous record was 18 straight days, set in 1974.
As a result, Phoenix endured the hottest month ever recorded in a U.S. city in July, according to the Arizona State Climate Office.
The average July temperature at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which the National Weather Service uses for the city’s official readings, was 102.7 degrees.
Phoenix knocked a fellow Arizona city out of the national top spot, surpassing Lake Havasu City’s mark of 102.2 degrees from July 1996.
Continuing on, the highest low ever recorded in Phoenix happened on July 19 when it was 97 degrees. Yes, Phoenix has seen the most 90-degree lows in a year in history.
The city has also had the most 115-plus degree days in a year in 2023.
Finally, Phoenix broke the record for hottest “meteorological summer” (July-August) with an average temperature of 97 degrees. That beat the previous mark of 96.7 degrees set in 2020.
