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A runner jogs at sunrise, Wednesday, July 12, 2023 in Tempe, Ariz. Even desert residents accustomed to scorching summers are feeling the grip of a severe heat wave that has hit the Southwest this week.
CNN
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Arizonans have endured scorching temperatures for more than two weeks and that hot streak is about to heat up, with a brutal heat wave starting to form before the weekend.
Temperatures in Phoenix have reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit every day this month. On Wednesday, the city’s high was 111 degrees, making it the third-longest streak in Phoenix history for a continuous temperature of at least 110 degrees, according to National Weather Service. The longest streak, set in 1974, was 18 days.
Meteorologists expect the heat at the end of the week breaking the record, reached a whopping 119 degrees in some parts. “The Southwest typically has the hottest temperatures in the country during the summer months, but this is not your average summer,” said CNN Meteorologist Taylor Ward. “In the coming days many locations will experience some of the top 10 temperatures they have ever recorded.
“This type of heat should be taken seriously because heat stress can happen quickly for those out in the elements.”
The dangerous temperatures are trailing other global climate records amid a crisis that is rapidly warming the planet. Scientists have warned that there is a growing possibility that 2023 will be Earth’s hottest year on record.
Over the next week, nearly 70% of all Americans will see high temperatures at or above 90 degrees, while more than 55 million people will see temperatures at or above 100 degrees.
In Arizona, an extreme heat warning is in effect for much of the state, including Maricopa County, home of the state’s capital city.
And the oppressive heat there isn’t just going to get worse — it’s going to expand, reaching western California and Nevada with several locations in the region expected to tie or break their record high temperatures by the end of the week, according to the Weather Prediction Center.
“Dangerous heat coming,” the National Weather Service in Las Vegas SAYS Tuesday. “Temperatures later this week could challenge daily and all-time records, with little-to-no overnight relief.”
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A volunteer hands out cold water at the emergency heat relief station of the Salvation Army Phoenix Citadel Corps on July 12, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Farther east, in parts of the Plains, Lower Mississippi Valley and the Southeast — which is also warming to high temperatures — heat and humidity will make it feel hotter than 115 degrees this week, the forecast center said. .
“It is necessary,” the prediction center warned, that people act “to limit their exposure to the oppressive hot weather as it looks to remain at the moment.”
In Arizona’s Yavapai County, authorities found a “severely dehydrated” Buddhist monk who went missing Saturday night after failing to return from a walk, according to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office.
The monk was located the next day about 20 to 25 miles from the temple he had started walking to and was examined by medical professionals who found he was dehydrated, the sheriff’s office said.
State Department of Public Safety THE INVITATION Arizona residents to make sure they stock their cars with water, sun protection and have their phones charged and plenty of gas, amid the dangerous heat.
