Homeless in Arizona

We didn't have any 122°F days. For that matter we didn't even have any 120°F days.

I suspect that one reason is because the lows keep getting hotter and hotter.

When I was a kid the summer lows rarely get above 70°F. Now we often have lows that are above 80°F. For that matter we may have had a low in the 90°F.

But I am sure that their statistic is correct, even if this summer didn't feel that hot!

Source

Phoenix summer was hottest ever

By Ron Dungan The Republic | azcentral.com Fri Sep 20, 2013 11:54 PM

No, it was not your imagination. This summer was the hottest in Phoenix since U.S. record-keeping began in 1895.

The average daily temperature in Phoenix was 95.1 degrees from June through August, according to the National Weather Service. That narrowly beat the previous record high of 94.9, set in 2007.

In the south of the state, Tucson recorded its second-highest average temperature, 88.3, said John Glueck, a Weather Service meteorologist.

Those highs were partly a result of the heat-island effect, the tendency for concrete and asphalt in urban areas to retain heat, which raises nighttime temperatures, Glueck said.

The average temperature is calculated by combining daytime highs and nighttime lows.

“It makes it harder for the atmosphere to cool off,” he said. “The urbanization is driving a lot of this stuff. We’re probably going to continue to see this in the future.”

That means Valley residents should be prepared to swelter through more days like June 29, when the temperature soared to 119 degrees in Phoenix, marking the fourth-hottest recorded day in the city’s history and a record high for the date.

“Temperatures are more frequently going beyond the bounds of what we’ve seen before,” said Jake Crouch, a climate scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center.

The first two months of this summer, June and July, were hotter than the same months in 2012 and played a big part in the record-setting heat.

There were 16 days and 18 nights that exceeded the average daily high and low temperatures in June, compared with 12 days and 11 nights in June 2012.

In July, 19 days and nights exceeded the average highs and lows, compared with 12 days and 11 nights in July last year.

The Valley got some respite from the heat in August as abundant monsoon storms made the month cooler than last year. There were 11 days and 14 nights that exceeded average temperatures, compared with 18 days and 17 nights in August 2012.

Statewide, this was only the 12th-warmest summer on record, with an average temperature of 92.4, Crouch said.

Even though today is the last day of summer, and the cooler weather of fall beckons, the mercury isn’t likely to dip any time soon, the Weather Service says.

“It’s more likely that we’re going to be warmer than normal,” said Ken Waters, warning meteorologist coordinator for the Weather Service.

It wasn’t just Phoenix that simmered this summer. It was the fifth-hottest summer worldwide since record-keeping began in 1880, and the 15th-hottest in the United States, Crouch said. Most of the hotter areas were in the West.

Nationwide, the numbers reflect a warming trend of 1 degree over the past century. In Arizona, the increase has been about 2 degrees, he said.

Higher temperatures can affect moisture in the air, Crouch said, leading to more floods and longer droughts.

“When it’s wet, it will be wetter. When it’s dry, it will be drier,” he said.

The extreme heat also does more than make people sweat. On June 29, when the temperature hit 119 in Phoenix, US Airways canceled 18 flights by some of its smaller planes. Excessive temperatures can affect an aircraft’s ability to take off and land.

Phoenix recorded its all-time high of 122 degrees on June 26, 1990.

USA Today contributed to this article.