PHOENIX — Yes, we're in a desert. Yes, it's summer. And yes, it was hot in Phoenix back in 1970. But this year's heat is intense.
Phoenix just ended a 31-day streak of daily high temperatures at or above 110 degrees, giving us the hottest month ever recorded in an American city.
Heat waves and high pressure are typical weather occurrences, but a warming global climate has pushed these variables to greater extremes, Arizona State Climatologist Erinanne Saffell said.
RELATED: Phoenix has ended 31-day streak of highs at or above 110 degrees as rains ease a Southwest heat wave
By the numbers:
Americans have been recording temperatures in (what would eventually become) Arizona since the late 1800s, and it's trending hotter. In the early 1900s, we averaged five days above 110 degrees a year, Dr. Saffell pointed out. In 2020, we had 53. We're already at 34 days in 2023, and we still have a few months to go.
Phoenix's average temperature in July was 102.7 degrees. Three days hit 119 degrees. 17 days were above 115 degrees. The average maximum temperature was just shy of that at 114.7 degrees.
19 days didn't get below 90 degrees, even overnight. We set a new record high minimum temperature of 97 degrees. The average minimum was 90.8 degrees.
There was no measurable precipitation in the city for the whole month.
NWS Phoenix and the Arizona State Climate Office tweeted out the information.
The previous hottest month on record for a US city was claimed by another Arizona location: Lake Havasu City. In July 1996, they averaged 102.2 degrees. Well, they've officially been knocked off the throne.
It's only been three years since Phoenix beat its personal heat record. August 2020 was our previous hottest month on record at 99.1 degrees. We beat that by 3.6 degrees.
This July, we tied or broke 12 daily high-temperature records, according to NWS Phoenix. Our 19 days of low temperatures at or above 90 degrees beat the previous record of 16 days.
In 2020, we only had six days in a month at or above 115 degrees. This year, we had 17: almost three times as many.
Why it's happening, and what it means:
One of the driving factors behind our high temperature was the lack of cooling at night, and the lack of monsoon storms this month. Although this July was drier than expected, that isn't necessarily surprising.
"We had two wet summers right in a row," Dr. Saffell explained about 2021 and 2022's monsoons. "It's kind of rare to have a third wet summer."
El Niño is happening this year. It's a climate pattern marked by warming surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean and occurs every two to seven years. While these years are wetter and stormier than average, that typically affects winter months. No extra summer storms for us.
Instead, we're stuck in an urban heat island. These bubbles of atmospheric heat are caused when structures like buildings, roads, and parking lots absorb heat, trap it, and radiate it at night. Couple that with a lack of storms, and our nights are going to stay hot.
"When we look at the global change in temperature in Arizona, for about 100 years or so it's increased two degrees. If we zoom in and look at Phoenix, it's increased by that two degrees, but also an additional five degrees from the urban heat island," Dr. Saffell said.
Even if you're used to living in a desert, that heat hurts.
"It's oppressive. It's a threshold where it's hot for everyone," she said. "The average person who considers themselves healthy probably needs to pay attention to what's been going on with our temperatures."
But it's not all bad news. Major players in Arizona are adjusting our infrastructure and providing resources to combat the urban heat island effect.
Residents can get free desert-adapted shade trees from the Salt River Project. The city of Phoenix recently debuted its Cool Pavement Pilot Program, repaving roads to reflect sunlight instead of trapping the heat. Flood-irrigated yards let homeowners capture natural watershed to keep their plants healthy without constantly running sprinklers.
"Maricopa County is one of the largest, most populous, hottest counties in the country, and we've been doing amazing things."
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