The sun will be dominating Phoenix and most of central, southern and western Arizona for a while, possibly to the very end of the month.
Temperatures are climbing back above 110 degrees starting Friday, Aug. 21, and into the following week. The extreme heat warning was extended to the next Friday, Aug. 28, for temperatures as high as 114 in metro Phoenix and higher in the rest of Maricopa County and western Arizona.
Heat risk will go from major to extreme halfway through that period due to increasing high pressure influence and lack of reprieve, given that overnight lows likely won’t drop below 90.
This Friday, Aug. 21, there’s also an ozone high pollution alert in effect for Maricopa County. With high pressure staying dominant, there may be more
of these air quality alerts to look out for during the next work week.
Regarding storms, there’s a super slight chance for an isolated storm in the Valley through about Monday, Aug. 24, with the better chances all in the higher terrain. High pressure will be shifting around Colorado and New Mexico during that time and temperatures in the Valley will stay around 110-112 degrees.
But by Tuesday, the high is parking back over New Mexico and Arizona, which will fully isolate low rain chances to the high terrain and kick Valley temperatures to the hotter 100-teens.
During this period, daily high heat records range from 113 to 117 degrees and daily warm low records range from 89 to 93 degrees. Depending on the day, we may see some daily heat records matched and possibly broken if the heat really builds as the week goes on.
As always in the heat, stay hydrated, limit your time outside and get in the AC whenever you can.
If you struggle to find ways to stay cool, use theHeat Preparedness Network for resources across the state, or the Maricopa County heat page for more local information.
Meteorologist Tevian Whitehurst covers extreme weather and climate for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Follow him at @TevianWX on Instagram and Facebook (Meteorologist Tevian Whitehurst).
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix may end August with extreme heat, as warnings are extended
