In A Record-Breaking Heat Wave, Phoenix, Arizona Has Been Over 110 Degrees For 50 Straight Days
As if we didn’t already know how sweltering Arizona can be, it just got official. Friday, August 28 was the 50th straight day of at least 110-degree temperatures, and a heatwave quite like this has never been seen before in the Grand Canyon State.
As of Friday, August 28, the Valley reached at least 110 degrees for 50 consecutive days. The previous record of 33 days was set back in 2011.
August 9 was the day Phoenix officially surpassed the nearly decade-old record. On Friday afternoon, the 50th day, it was 111 degrees at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. What a scorcher!
Unrelenting high pressure is to blame for the heatwave. High pressure leads to warmer-than-average temperatures, which were made even worse by an unusually dry summer.
Phoenix normally relies on monsoons to cool things down, but they've been few-and-far-between. The city has received under four inches of rainfall since 2020 began.
Experts say the concrete and asphalt in urban areas like Phoenix soak up heat from the sun. This is referred to as the "heat-island" effect, which exists to a much lesser degree in undeveloped regions.
According to the National Weather Service, Phoenix is, on average, three degrees hotter during the summer months than it was in the 1970s. Can you feel the difference?
Katie Lawrence is a Southeast Texas native who graduated 18th in her high school class with a GPA of 4.25. She attended college in the Houston area and changed her major twice (psychology, computer science, and finally criminal justice) before taking a leap of faith and dropping out to pursue a career in freelance writing.
Today, Katie writes for the Texas and Arizona pages of OnlyInYourState.com and has never been more passionate about a job before. Outside of work, you can likely find her curled up on the sofa with a hot cup of coffee, watching a crime TV show or scary movie.
