PHOENIX — The Arizona desert city of Phoenix experienced a record-breaking heatwave this year, with 113 consecutive days of temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), killing hundreds of people from heatstroke and burning more land across the state, officials said.
The Sonoran Desert's largest city, with a population of 1.6 million, experienced its hottest summer on record, beating the previous 2023 record by nearly two degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
The 113-day streak of consecutive temperatures reached last week broke the previous record of 76 days above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, set in Phoenix in 1993.
“It's very unusual, especially to have two record-breaking summers back-to-back like we've had,” said Matt Salerno, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Phoenix office.
Authorities say 256 people have died from heatstroke in Phoenix-Maricopa County so far this year, and another 393 are suspected to have died. Data, open a new tabLast year, the county saw a record number of heatstroke deaths, 645.
“It's too early to predict how 2024 totals will compare to 2023,” said Nailea Leon, spokesperson for the Maricopa County Public Health Department, adding that while heat-related deaths and suspected deaths so far in 2024 are below 2023 levels, summer isn't over yet.
Nearly half of the deaths are among unhoused people, the county's most vulnerable population.
The deaths peaked in July, a time of year when temperatures in Phoenix continued to reach 118 degrees Fahrenheit, a trend that meteorologists blame on global warming caused by fossil fuel pollution.
Over the past five years, the city has averaged 40 days with temperatures reaching 110 degrees or higher, up from about five at the start of the last century, according to the Arizona Climate Division.
According to Bureau of Wildfires Director Ellinan Saffell, the extreme heat is expected to result in more area burned statewide in 2024 than last year.
Weather-related factors include record winter precipitation and summer heat. Wildfire in the Los Angeles area over the past few weeks.
