Phoenix set a national heat record for the hottest month across U.S. cities as its July temperatures averaged 102.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
According to the Arizona State Climatologist and Arizona State Climate Office, Phoenix broke the previous national record for the hottest month that Lake Havasu City, Ariz., set in 1996, in which temperatures averaged 102.2 degrees. Phoenix’s average monthly temperature for July 2023 also broke the city’s previous record of 99.1 degrees set in 2020, the Phoenix National Weather Service (NWS) noted.
“It was certainly a month for the record books,” the Phoenix NWS posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The average high temperature for Phoenix was 114.7 degrees, while the average low temperature was 90.8 degrees. The only day in July to not reach a temperature of 110 degrees was Monday, breaking the city’s 31-day streak of reaching temperatures of at least 110 degrees.
The previous record for the longest 110-degree streak in the city was set in 1974, when Phoenix had 18 straight days of temperatures at or above 110 degrees.
The first three weeks of July were the warmest three-week period ever recorded globally, signaling that it was on track to be the hottest month ever recorded according to data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Millions of Americans across the country were also under heat advisories last week, as a heat wave that began in the Southwest began to spread eastward.