The dog days of summer are still in full swing as temperatures remain high and oppressive in the closing days of July.
Temperatures have come down, closer to 110 degrees, to start the week, serving as a “break” before high pressure returns to the Southwest in full force, returning near-record highs in the upper 100-teens to the region.
“Break” might be a stretch because cool air is nowhere to be found in metro Phoenix. Highs for the first half of the week range between 108 to 113 degrees in the area. Extreme heat warnings have been extended to Wednesday, July 29 at 8 p.m. specifically for the metropolitan area because overnight lows will remain in the upper 80s to lower 90s for the entirety of the week. The warning will likely get extended again
in the coming days.
This is coming off of a weekend where the warmest low ever recorded in Phoenix, 97 degrees, was matched twice on the mornings of Friday and Saturday, July 24 and 25. Then to start the week, the daily record low for July 27 has also been tentatively broken — the temperature only fell to 94 degrees, 1 degree more than the previous record for the day. Heat risk will remain at major levels during the first half of the week before extreme levels creep in during the latter half.
The heat builds as high pressure overhead strengthens and moves westward, from northern New Mexico and Texas toward northern Arizona and southern Utah. This pushes temperatures back toward daily records in the upper 100-teens. Friday and Saturday, July 31 and Aug. 1 are expected to be the hottest days of the week, with at least a 50% chance of tying the current daily record of each day, 116 degrees.
Rain chances across the lower deserts will be minimal throughout this forecast. Recent activity around the area the past weekend capped potential, keeping Monday quiet. The best chance for any development will come Tuesday morning, but even then it’s a 20% chance at most. Higher elevations in southeast and northeast Arizona have better opportunities for scattered storms, but they also see a strong reduction in activity by Thursday, July 30 because of the incoming high pressure.
Meteorologist Tevian Whitehurst covers extreme weather and climate for The Republic and azcentral.com. Follow him at @TevianWX on Instagram and Facebook (Meteorologist Tevian Whitehurst).
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: In the never-ending Arizona sun, extreme, near-record heat ends July
