February 11, 2009 4:18 PM
- Text
Phoenix Hits Record For 110 Degree Days
(CBS/AP)
People here expect it to be hot, but they sure wouldn't mind a cool spell. You know, maybe 107 or so.
Phoenix reached a shoe-melting, spirit-crushing milestone Wednesday: 29 days of temperatures 110° or higher in a single year. The previous record of 28 days was set in 1970 and matched in 2002, according to the National Weather Service.
The streak is enough to vaporize any humor left in the phrase "It's a dry heat." The average number of days 110 or higher in a given year is 10.
"It's a dry heat because we're in a desert!" Ollie Lewis said as she walked to a bus stop in downtown Phoenix.
Austin Jamison, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Phoenix, said an oven produces dry heat, too. "You can put your head in the oven, but that's not comfortable."
The temperature hit 113° Wednesday afternoon, matching the record high for Aug. 29 set in 1948 and 1981, Jamison said.
A heat advisory has been posted, with the weather service forecasting a high of 110° for Thursday, but cooler temperatures (a chilly 105°!) expected later this week.
The weather service says urbanization and global climate change could be contributing factors to the heat.
CBS Affiliate KPHO Meteorologist Steve Garry said it could be worse: "What's interesting about this is we set the 110° milestone without breaking any of the four hottest days on record in Phoenix," ranging from 118° on July 22, 1995, to 122° set on June 26, 1990.
The hottest day of 2007 was July 4, when the mercury hit 116°.
Still, the string of broiling days was tough to deal with, even for lifelong Phoenix residents like Martin Milner, a construction worker who took a break under a rare shade tree.
"People say you'll get used to it, but you never get used to it," said Milner, who wore a bandanna under his black hard hat to stop the sweat from running down his face. "Every year it gets harder and harder and harder. This year it's just skyrocketed."
Marcia Reid, who moved to Phoenix from New York City five months ago, said the heat doesn't bother her.
"I lived in New York for so long, I got tired of the cold," she said. "I like it here.
"It's a dry heat."
Phoenix reached a shoe-melting, spirit-crushing milestone Wednesday: 29 days of temperatures 110° or higher in a single year. The previous record of 28 days was set in 1970 and matched in 2002, according to the National Weather Service.
The streak is enough to vaporize any humor left in the phrase "It's a dry heat." The average number of days 110 or higher in a given year is 10.
"It's a dry heat because we're in a desert!" Ollie Lewis said as she walked to a bus stop in downtown Phoenix.
Austin Jamison, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Phoenix, said an oven produces dry heat, too. "You can put your head in the oven, but that's not comfortable."
The temperature hit 113° Wednesday afternoon, matching the record high for Aug. 29 set in 1948 and 1981, Jamison said.
A heat advisory has been posted, with the weather service forecasting a high of 110° for Thursday, but cooler temperatures (a chilly 105°!) expected later this week.
The weather service says urbanization and global climate change could be contributing factors to the heat.
CBS Affiliate KPHO Meteorologist Steve Garry said it could be worse: "What's interesting about this is we set the 110° milestone without breaking any of the four hottest days on record in Phoenix," ranging from 118° on July 22, 1995, to 122° set on June 26, 1990.
The hottest day of 2007 was July 4, when the mercury hit 116°.
Still, the string of broiling days was tough to deal with, even for lifelong Phoenix residents like Martin Milner, a construction worker who took a break under a rare shade tree.
"People say you'll get used to it, but you never get used to it," said Milner, who wore a bandanna under his black hard hat to stop the sweat from running down his face. "Every year it gets harder and harder and harder. This year it's just skyrocketed."
Marcia Reid, who moved to Phoenix from New York City five months ago, said the heat doesn't bother her.
"I lived in New York for so long, I got tired of the cold," she said. "I like it here.
"It's a dry heat."
Latest Now in National
- Squatters cite old law to claim homes
- Whitney Houston always remembered in her hometown
- Whitney Houston cause of death under investigation
- Whitney Houston's body moved from hotel
- Induced labor allows dying Texas man see daughter
- Induced labor allows dying Texas man see daughter
- Former Pa. DEP chief on contaminated water from gas drilling
- Whitney Houston's daughter taken in ambulance
- NJ man who shot off-duty officer must pay $5.9M
- Autopsy on Whitney Houston to begin Sunday
- Experts: Stanford's trial not won with 1 witness
- Drillers cut natural gas production as prices drop
- Man charged in plot to kill Utah governor
- Nature: Bobcats riding out the snow
- US seeks to mine social media to predict future
- RI player wins $336 million Powerball jackpot
- How the revolution became digitized
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook Most Discussed Stories
on CBS News
- Grammys to honor Houston, Hudson to pay tribute
- Whitney Houston never forgot New Jersey roots
- Govt: Health scare on New Zealand flight just flu
- Quinn defends Ill. after CEO blasts jobs climate
on Facebook Most Discussed Stories
on CBS News
