With more record temperatures coming, Phoenix excessive heat warning extended

PHOENIX — With more record high temperatures in the forecast, the ongoing excessive heat warning for metro Phoenix has been extended through Tuesday.

The National Weather Service (NWS) activated the warning on Wednesday and originally scheduled it to expire Sunday night. Unless it gets extended again, the excessive heat warning will now stay in effect until 8 p.m. Tuesday as the unprecedented fall heat wave continues.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which the NWS uses for the city’s official readings, reached 113 degrees on Wednesday and 110 on Thursday, both record highs for the date.

If the latest forecast pans out, Phoenix will continue breaking daily heat records at least through Tuesday, with highs expected to linger at 10 degrees or more above normal for this time of year.

Records continue to fall during heat wave

Additionally, each time it hits 110 degrees in the coming days, it will extend two marks in the NWS record books — for latest annual date at that level and most days reaching that temperature in a year.

Until this week, Phoenix had never reached 110 degrees after Sept. 19.

Meanwhile, the city’s previous record for the most 110 degree days in a year was 55 in 2023. Thursday was the 63rd time it got that hot in 2024.

How hot will it get during excessive heat warning?

Saturday is expected to be the hottest day of the excessive heat warning, with a forecast high of 114 degrees. That would be 6 degrees above the existing record for the date and a sizzling 18 degrees above normal.

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 an excessive heat warning is in effect.

“When we see temperatures like this, it is very important to stay cool and to stay hydrated. You definitely need to be eliminating your time outdoors. If you have any activities you need to be doing outside, be doing that early in the morning before we start seeing this heat really ramp up,” Isaac Smith, a meteorologist for the NWS in Phoenix, told KTAR News 92.3 FM earlier this week.

How many heat-related deaths are there in Maricopa County in 2024?

Arizona’s extreme heat isn’t just tedious and uncomfortable. It can be deadly, especially for the Valley’s elderly and unhoused populations.

Maricopa County health officials have confirmed 283 heat-related deaths in metro Phoenix so far this year and are investigating another 381 cases.

There were 295 confirmed heat-related deaths and 423 cases under investigation at the same time last year, which eventually set a record with 645 deaths where death was determined to be the cause or a contributing factor.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.

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