Southwestern US to have record-challenging heat as drought remains into the weekend
An excessive heat warning is in effect for the Phoenix, Arizona, area through Wednesday night. Temperatures are climbing well above 100 degrees and daily records could be broken. A very hot and dry monsoon season continues for the desert southwest.
Record highs dating back to the 1940s will be in jeopardy across the southwestern United States as intense heat builds into the Labor Day weekend.
While average high temperatures start trending down at this point in the season, this weekend will feel more like the middle of summer due to widespread highs in the 90s, 100s and 110s F.
"California, the Great Basin, Desert Southwest and Intermountain West region will be hot and mainly dry into this weekend, with many areas having temperatures as much as 4-14 degrees Fahrenheit above normal," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jack Boston said.
Highs typically range from 104 in Phoenix to around 87 in Salt Lake City, Utah and Grand Junction, Colorado. These cities will join Elko, Nevada, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, in challenging record highs during the end of August and beginning of September.
The core of the heat is expected to expand northward during the first days of the new month. Numerous cities in Oregon have seen record-breaking temperatures this week, including Portland, Astoria and Eugene.
Eugene reached 100 F on Tuesday, breaking a record set in 1972, according to the Associated Press. Astoria, a coastal city located on the border of Washington, broke a 125-year-old record by reaching 91 degrees on Wednesday, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive.
The greatest chance for record-breaking temperatures in Denver will be on Sunday and Labor Day. The heat will peak in Casper, Wyoming, and Pocatello, Idaho, around this time as well.
On Labor Day, Cheyenne, Wyoming, is forecast to come close to its record high of 92 set in 1947.
Residents and those visiting for the Labor Day holiday will need to take the necessary precautions to lessen the risk of heat-related illnesses. This includes wearing light-colored and loose-fitting clothing, drinking of plenty of water and limiting strenuous activity to the coolest times of the day.
Remember to never leave children or pets in a sealed vehicle for even a short amount of time.
Following a plethora of thunderstorm activity at midweek, the building heat into the weekend will not come with anymore meaningful rainfall chances in what has been a lack-luster monsoon season.
"There can be some spotty afternoon showers and thunderstorms in the Four Corners region and Rockies the second half of this week, mainly in the high country, but they will not have much of an effect on the region's drought," Boston said.
Pockets of abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions extend from Southern California to portions of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, according to the United States Drought Monitor.
Hikers and anyone else outdoors should be watchful for billowing, darkening clouds which signal a thunderstorm may be brewing.
The building heat, combined with parched ground, will contribute to an elevated risk of wildfire ignition. Thunderstorms with dry lightning, or lightning in the absence of meaningful rainfall, will also elevate this risk.
AccuWeather meteorologists are monitoring the potential for monsoon thunderstorms to become more widespread over the Southwest and build westward toward the Southern California deserts during the first half of next week.
Download the free AccuWeather app to view the latest forecast track temperature trends in your area. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
