John Wheeler: Consecutive 100 degree days in Phoenix at 103 and counting

FARGO — Today (Saturday) the temperature sensor at Skyharbor Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, will again reach above 100 degrees. This will be 103 consecutive days of high temperatures of 100 degrees or higher going back to May 27. These are consecutive days.

There had already been seven triple digit days earlier in April and May. This streak is unlikely to end at least through mid-September. There are three reasons for this.



Climate change plays a part. As temperatures get warmer, locations that are typically dry or have been getting drier with climate change are getting more hot days than in the past. The urban heat-island effect makes this worse.

Cities, and large cities in particular, get even hotter in hot weather due to the physical properties of concrete, brick and other materials more prevalent in urban areas. The third reason is that weather has delivered an unrelenting heat wave to the desert Southwest this year..