Valley of the Sun swelters in unusual early-season heat wave
By
Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Apr 30, 2020 5:48 PM EDT
Death Valley is the hottest place in the United States, but not very many people live there. Here are some of the hottest places around the country where people like to live.
Sweltering heat has roasted residents throughout the Southwest and rewritten a few records in the process. As social distancing mandates have forced people to stay at home and away from beaches or parks, citizens in cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix are in search of new ways to cool off.
On Wednesday, Las Vegas locals saw the mercury in thermometers nearly surpass the triple-digit barrier for the first time ever in April. While temperatures topped out at 99 degrees Fahrenheit at McCarran International Airport, the heat blast still matched the city's April record high.
At 18 degrees higher than the historical average, Wednesday’s temperatures would have sent most Phoenicians scurrying for the local swimming pool or park in any other year.
But this year, those parks remain closed indefinitely. Instead, residents at home have cranked up the air conditioning and used other household appliances more frequently, bringing about a new risk: appliance fires.
Planes from Luke Air Force Base, including the 56th Fighter Wing and the 944th Fighter Wing, along with the Arizona Air National Guard 161st Air Refueling Wing fly over the Sandstone Buttes at Papago Park as they fly through the Phoenix metro area to honor Arizona's front line coronavirus workers with a flyover Friday, May 1, 2020. The jets included seven F-35A Lightning IIs and seven F-16 Fighting Falcons flying out of Luke Air Force Base and one KC-135 from the 161st ARW, participated in the 50-minute flyover. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
In a news release earlier this week, Fire Chief William McDonald of the Las Vegas Fire & Rescue department warned citizens to check the maintenance of air conditioners, to avoid putting refrigerators or freezers in warm storage rooms and never to use extension cords with appliances.
“The excessive heat can cause injury and illness because most people are not acclimated to the heat; it also can increase the chance of fires in homes and businesses,” McDonald wrote on Tuesday.
On Thursday, Las Vegas set a new daily record for warmest low temperature when the steamy conditions never dropped below 79 F. This was also the record for warmest low temperature in April.
In the Southwest, Las Vegas wasn't the only city to sweat through the first half of the week. Phoenix joined the triple-digit heat club with a string of stifling days.
The swimming pool at Chicago's Altgeld Park remains empty as shelter at home and social distancing orders remain in affect Tuesday, April 28, 2020. From Cape Cod to California, festivals are being nixed, businesses in tourist havens are looking at empty reservation books, and people who have been cooped up through a dismal spring are worrying summer will bring just more of the same. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
"Phoenix recorded its first 100-degree day of the year on Sunday and, for good measure, tacked on five more through Friday," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bill Deger said. "The April record of 105 in Phoenix was nearly toppled on Wednesday, when it reached 104 at Sky Harbor Airport."
The five straight days of 100 degree heat from April 26-May 1 became the second longest streak of consecutive triple-digit days in April since records began in Phoenix in 1896. It also marks just the third time in recorded history that the city reached five or more 100 degree days in a single April.
Phoenix’s high of 104 F on Wednesday was 15 degrees above normal and the heat didn’t let up overnight. On Thursday morning, a new record max low temperature was set in Phoenix when the temperature refused to budge below 75 F.
From Phoenix to Tucson, located about 100 miles farther south in Arizona, excessive heat warnings enacted by the National Weather Service (NWS) covered the state. The warnings urge Arizonians to "reduce, eliminate or reschedule strenuous activities during the hottest parts of the day."
Heat advisory warnings cover much of the Southwest on Thursday as the week's record-breaking heat wave continues to bake the region.
According to the NWS, Wednesday's high temperature of 100 F at Tucson International Airport was the fifth earliest triple-digit day in city history. Historically, the first 100 F degree day comes in the final week of May.
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Along the West Coast, the heat wave put 18 million Southern California residents under heat advisories and ushered crowds to beaches, much to the disapproval of state officials. Gov. Gavin Newsom called the beach gatherings, particularly in Orange County, 'disturbing' and announced on Thursday that all state beaches will be closed in order to mandate social distancing.
A man expresses his displeasure with Ca. Gov. Gavin Newsom as he rides his bike in Huntington Beach, California on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a temporary "hard close" only of beaches in Orange County, where crowds gathered on the sand during last weekend's heat wave amid social-distancing mandates due to the coronavirus. "We're guided by health. We're guided by your health and the health of others," Newsom said in announcing the closure. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
(Jim Ruymen/UPI)
"This virus doesn't take the weekends off; this virus doesn't go home because it's a beautiful, sunny day around our coasts," Newsom said Monday.
Newsom's comments and subsequent actions were quickly met with frustration from Californians who vowed to protest the decision to shut the beaches. According to local news outlets like the Orange County Register, many area residents are upset by the beach closures and feel that the mandates are an overreach.
In Los Angeles, temperatures peaked at 93 F last week and have remained at least 5 degrees above historical average this week. Farther inland, Death Valley peaked at 112 F on Wednesday. Considered the hottest place in the U.S., the Wednesday mark was just one degree shy of its April record.
Deger said residents will need to continue finding alternative measures to stay cool for the foreseeable future.
"While the extreme heat where records are challenged every day will begin to abate by this weekend, it will stay toasty through much of the first week of May, with high temperatures averaging at least 5 to 10 F degrees above average," he said.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
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News / Weather News
Valley of the Sun swelters in unusual early-season heat wave
By Mark Puleo, AccuWeather staff writer
Published Apr 30, 2020 5:48 PM EDT
Death Valley is the hottest place in the United States, but not very many people live there. Here are some of the hottest places around the country where people like to live.
Sweltering heat has roasted residents throughout the Southwest and rewritten a few records in the process. As social distancing mandates have forced people to stay at home and away from beaches or parks, citizens in cities such as Las Vegas and Phoenix are in search of new ways to cool off.
On Wednesday, Las Vegas locals saw the mercury in thermometers nearly surpass the triple-digit barrier for the first time ever in April. While temperatures topped out at 99 degrees Fahrenheit at McCarran International Airport, the heat blast still matched the city's April record high.
At 18 degrees higher than the historical average, Wednesday’s temperatures would have sent most Phoenicians scurrying for the local swimming pool or park in any other year.
But this year, those parks remain closed indefinitely. Instead, residents at home have cranked up the air conditioning and used other household appliances more frequently, bringing about a new risk: appliance fires.
Planes from Luke Air Force Base, including the 56th Fighter Wing and the 944th Fighter Wing, along with the Arizona Air National Guard 161st Air Refueling Wing fly over the Sandstone Buttes at Papago Park as they fly through the Phoenix metro area to honor Arizona's front line coronavirus workers with a flyover Friday, May 1, 2020. The jets included seven F-35A Lightning IIs and seven F-16 Fighting Falcons flying out of Luke Air Force Base and one KC-135 from the 161st ARW, participated in the 50-minute flyover. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
In a news release earlier this week, Fire Chief William McDonald of the Las Vegas Fire & Rescue department warned citizens to check the maintenance of air conditioners, to avoid putting refrigerators or freezers in warm storage rooms and never to use extension cords with appliances.
“The excessive heat can cause injury and illness because most people are not acclimated to the heat; it also can increase the chance of fires in homes and businesses,” McDonald wrote on Tuesday.
On Thursday, Las Vegas set a new daily record for warmest low temperature when the steamy conditions never dropped below 79 F. This was also the record for warmest low temperature in April.
In the Southwest, Las Vegas wasn't the only city to sweat through the first half of the week. Phoenix joined the triple-digit heat club with a string of stifling days.
The swimming pool at Chicago's Altgeld Park remains empty as shelter at home and social distancing orders remain in affect Tuesday, April 28, 2020. From Cape Cod to California, festivals are being nixed, businesses in tourist havens are looking at empty reservation books, and people who have been cooped up through a dismal spring are worrying summer will bring just more of the same. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
"Phoenix recorded its first 100-degree day of the year on Sunday and, for good measure, tacked on five more through Friday," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bill Deger said. "The April record of 105 in Phoenix was nearly toppled on Wednesday, when it reached 104 at Sky Harbor Airport."
The five straight days of 100 degree heat from April 26-May 1 became the second longest streak of consecutive triple-digit days in April since records began in Phoenix in 1896. It also marks just the third time in recorded history that the city reached five or more 100 degree days in a single April.
Phoenix’s high of 104 F on Wednesday was 15 degrees above normal and the heat didn’t let up overnight. On Thursday morning, a new record max low temperature was set in Phoenix when the temperature refused to budge below 75 F.
From Phoenix to Tucson, located about 100 miles farther south in Arizona, excessive heat warnings enacted by the National Weather Service (NWS) covered the state. The warnings urge Arizonians to "reduce, eliminate or reschedule strenuous activities during the hottest parts of the day."
Heat advisory warnings cover much of the Southwest on Thursday as the week's record-breaking heat wave continues to bake the region.
According to the NWS, Wednesday's high temperature of 100 F at Tucson International Airport was the fifth earliest triple-digit day in city history. Historically, the first 100 F degree day comes in the final week of May.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
Along the West Coast, the heat wave put 18 million Southern California residents under heat advisories and ushered crowds to beaches, much to the disapproval of state officials. Gov. Gavin Newsom called the beach gatherings, particularly in Orange County, 'disturbing' and announced on Thursday that all state beaches will be closed in order to mandate social distancing.
A man expresses his displeasure with Ca. Gov. Gavin Newsom as he rides his bike in Huntington Beach, California on Thursday, April 30, 2020. Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered a temporary "hard close" only of beaches in Orange County, where crowds gathered on the sand during last weekend's heat wave amid social-distancing mandates due to the coronavirus. "We're guided by health. We're guided by your health and the health of others," Newsom said in announcing the closure. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
"This virus doesn't take the weekends off; this virus doesn't go home because it's a beautiful, sunny day around our coasts," Newsom said Monday.
Newsom's comments and subsequent actions were quickly met with frustration from Californians who vowed to protest the decision to shut the beaches. According to local news outlets like the Orange County Register, many area residents are upset by the beach closures and feel that the mandates are an overreach.
In Los Angeles, temperatures peaked at 93 F last week and have remained at least 5 degrees above historical average this week. Farther inland, Death Valley peaked at 112 F on Wednesday. Considered the hottest place in the U.S., the Wednesday mark was just one degree shy of its April record.
Deger said residents will need to continue finding alternative measures to stay cool for the foreseeable future.
"While the extreme heat where records are challenged every day will begin to abate by this weekend, it will stay toasty through much of the first week of May, with high temperatures averaging at least 5 to 10 F degrees above average," he said.
Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.
Report a Typo