July set to be hottest month ever for Phoenix, any major U.S. city

Published: Tuesday, July 25, 2023 - 2:09pm

Updated: Tuesday, July 25, 2023 - 2:32pm

Katherine Davis-Young

The Arizona sun behind a palm tree in June 2021.

Phoenix’s brutal heat wave has already broken a string of daily temperature records. Now, it appears July will also break the record for the hottest month the city has ever seen.

Daytime temperatures this month have soared as high as 119 degrees. Nights have not dropped below 90 for more than two weeks. That means, so far, the overall average temperature for the month of July has been 102.8 degrees.

That’s a whole seven degrees above normal for July. According to the National Weather Service, the normal average for July is 95.6.

This month's 102.8 degree average is also more than three degrees hotter than the next-hottest month on record for Phoenix, which was August 2020, when temperatures averaged 99.1 degrees.

If the average holds through the end of July, it will mark the first time Phoenix, or any major U.S. city, has seen a monthly average temperature above 100 degrees, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records.

It's likely the record will fall, since high temperatures above 105 are forecast through the end of the month.

It’s been about 25 days of at least 110 degrees in Phoenix, and forecasters expect the heat trend to continue through at least Friday.

That streak of heat has also seen very little rain in the Valley, with some areas only seeing enough to make their cars filthy.

National Weather Service Meteorologist Jessica Leffel says that the dry trend is likely to continue.

"10%-20% chance daily this week. The biggest impact that we will be seeing with that is wind gusts as well as some potential blowing dust that might reduce visibility in those dust prone regions," Leffel said.

Phoenix is forecasted to see chances up to 50% for showers and thunderstorms starting Saturday night through Monday.