Phoenix streak of days with record-breaking heat ends, but more expected this week
Sep 30, 2024, 7:00 PM
(Getty Images File Photo)
PHOENIX – The sizzling streak of days with record-setting heat in Phoenix ended on Monday, but unprecedented high temperatures are to return soon.
The thermometer at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which the National Weather Service (NWS) uses for the city’s official readings, hit a record-tying 107 degrees but couldn’t set a daily record for a sixth consecutive day.
The last day of September ended on a hot note. We tied the record high of 107 degrees this afternoon at Phoenix Sky Harbor. This marks day #7 in a row with a record high tied or broken in Phoenix. #azwx pic.twitter.com/JbNyciSzES
— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) October 1, 2024
Phoenix did set a record for the warmest morning low temperature for the date when the mercury bottomed out at 83 degrees, 10 degrees above normal.
However, if the latest forecast ends up being on target, with highs of around 108 to 110 degrees, Phoenix is on track to experience record-setting heat at least through Sunday.
“We’re getting into October and we’re seeing temperatures that we normally would see in July,” Ryan Worley of the NWS in Phoenix told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Monday morning.
Warning extended during stretch of record-setting heat
An excessive heat warning for the Valley that started Wednesday has been extended twice. It is now set to run at least through 8 p.m. Friday.
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.
Phoenix has never started out the fall season with temperatures as high as it is experiencing this month.
Until last week, the latest date for a high of at least 110 degrees was Sept. 19. Phoenix was at least that hot every day Wednesday through Sunday. That stretch included a high of 117 degrees on Saturday, the hottest day ever recorded in September in Phoenix.
“It’s really just abnormal how hot things have been,” Worley said.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.