PHOENIX — The Valley is still sizzling as high pressure remains in control!
Phoenix hit 110 degrees again Tuesday, marking day 61 of temperatures at 110 or higher. That is an all-time record. The previous record was 55 days set just last year.
This may have been the last 110-degree day of the year, but we will be close again Wednesday with a forecast high of 109.
Temperatures will continue to trend down as we track a couple of storm systems bringing cooler air and more wind to the forecast this week and early next week.
Winds will start picking up on Wednesday, as the first of these storms passes to the north.
High winds combined with dry conditions will increase wildfire risk across our state. A Fire Weather Warning (also known as a Red Flag Warning) has been issued for Mohave County on Wednesday. Wind gusts could reach 40 mph there as relative humidity drops below 10 percent.
We are also tracking smoke from wildfires burning in California pushing into Arizona. Much of this will stay high in the sky and have little impact on the air we breathe near the ground.
Increased breezes should help prevent ozone pollution from building up in the Valley, too.
Wind gusts will peak near 25 mph in the Valley on Wednesday and 30 mph on Thursday.
Those winds will usher in some slightly cooler air, dropping temperatures to near average by the end of the week. That will put Phoenix near 104 degrees on Friday.
Then, another storm system will approach from the northwest over the weekend. This one will pull moisture up into Arizona, bringing chances for showers and thunderstorms back on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Valley temperatures will drop into the low 100s by Saturday and Sunday and overnight lows look cooler, too. Much of the Valley will fall into the mid 70s to low 80s early Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings.
With even more cool air headed our way toward the middle of next week, we may finally put an end to this unprecedented and record-shattering stretch of triple-digit days!
As of Tuesday, Phoenix has had 107 triple-digit days in a row. The previous record was 76 consecutive triple-digit days set in August of 1993. That means, we have beaten the previous record by over a month!
Meteorological summer ended on August 31st and it was the hottest summer on record in Phoenix! The overall average temperature for June, July and August was 98.9 degrees, breaking last summer's record of 97.0 degrees.
Hot and dry typically go hand-in-hand and it's also been a fairly dry monsoon in the Valley. There are only a few weeks left to get rain in the bucket before the season officially ends on September 30th.
So far, Phoenix has only picked up 0.74 inches of rain this monsoon season. Our 30-year average (which is considered our "normal" amount of rain) is 2.43 inches. But, it's important to remember, that is a decrease from the previous 30-year average of 2.71 inches (from 1981-2010) as our Valley climate continues to get hotter and drier.
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2024 Sky Harbor Official Rainfall to date: 4.54" (-0.47" from average)
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Daily rainfall reports from all across the Valley can be found here.
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PHOENIX IS GETTING DRIER - LOWER RAINFALL AVERAGES NOW
Average Monsoon Rainfall in Phoenix (1981-2010): 2.71" of rain
NEW Average Monsoon Rainfall in Phoenix (1991-2020): 2.43" of rain
Average Yearly Rainfall in Phoenix (1981-2010): 8:03" of rain
NEW Average Yearly Rainfall in Phoenix (1991-2020): 7.22" of rain
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