PHOENIX — No, this isn’t a joke: Phoenix has broken a 35-year-old heat record for the second day in a row.

The mercury reached 109 degrees at 1:15 p.m. at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport, which the National Weather Service (NWS) uses for the city’s official readings, surpassing the previous daily record of 108 degrees set in 1989 on September 26.

Also no joke: This probably won’t be the last time this week for a new daily heat record.

Why did Phoenix break the daily heat record again?

Highs in Phoenix are normally 96-97 degrees this time of year, but not in 2024.

The weather forecast calls for highs of at least 110 degrees through Sunday, with new temperature records expected in Phoenix every day at least through Tuesday.

Saturday is expected to be the hottest of the upcoming warm days, with an expected high of 114 degrees, as much as 6 degrees above the existing record for the date.

It was 113 degrees on Wednesday. Until then, temperatures in Phoenix had never reached more than 110 degrees after September 19, NWS data shows.

Does Phoenix have an excessive heat warning?

Phoenix is ​​under an extreme heat warning that will last through the weekend.

The excessive heat warning for the low deserts of central and southwestern Arizona is expected to last until 8 p.m. Sunday.

Per City of Phoenix policy, the Echo Canyon and Cholla trails on Camelback Mountain and all Piestewa Peak trails are closed from 9 a.m. to 5 a.m. on days when excessive heat warnings are in effect.

How hot has Phoenix been this year?

Temperature records in Phoenix are nothing new in 2024. Through Wednesday, the city has already set a standard of at least 110 degrees in a year at 62 degrees Celsius for most days. The old figure was 55 days in 2023.

Phoenix also had a record-breaking 113-day streak of temperatures reaching triple digits, which finally ended last week.

And if that’s not enough, Phoenix’s “meteorological summer” of 2024 (June-August) was the hottest on record, with an average temperature of 98.9 degrees.

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