Phoenix hit a scorching 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, notching the city’s first triple-digit temperature of 2025 nearly a month before it typically reaches that high.
And it’s far from alone: An area across the Southwest from Southern California through the Central and Northern Plains is expected to have temperatures spike between 10 and 30 degrees above average this week.
This rise in temperatures is being driven by a huge high pressure system that has settled across much of the western United States. Acting like a lid on the atmosphere, it traps heat near the ground and keeps clouds and rain away, resulting in a large supply of sunshine that allows temperatures to soar.
“That area between Los Angeles all the way to Phoenix is where you’ll see your well-above-normal temperatures,” said Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center.
Phoenix is known for its sweltering summers, but on average it reaches its first 100-degree day on May 2. But it’s already been a warm spring for Phoenix, which hit a record-breaking 99 degrees on March 25. This week, the Weather Service expects the intense heat to linger, with temperatures remaining at or above 100 degrees through Saturday, and some daily record highs most likely being broken, too.
On Friday, Phoenix is forecast to reach 102 degrees, and 100 is expected again on Saturday. The Phoenix office of the Weather Service has warned of a moderate heat risk for lower desert communities, saying that the extreme heat could lead to heat-related illnesses, especially among vulnerable people. The experts have advised local residents to stay hydrated, limit their time outdoors during the afternoon, wear lightweight and light-colored clothing, and to check on older neighbors, children and pets.
‘Spring is flexing its muscle.’
The Weather Service said highs in the 70s, 80s and 90s were expected through Saturday across the Southwest, and into the 90s and 100s across portions of the Southern Plains.
At the same time, much of the eastern United States is experiencing a stark contrast, with cool, wet and stormy weather, driven by a different system moving southward.
“Spring is flexing its muscle,” Mr. Kleebauer said. “You have a period, usually around mid-to-late March and it carries through maybe even most of April, where both winter and spring are kind of fighting back.”
He added that while this pattern wasn’t unusual for spring, the strength of the divide between east and west, and the early occurrence of the extreme heat in the Southwest were “definitely an anomaly.”
The risk of wildfires is also expected to go up this weekend in the Southwest. The Storm Prediction Center’s fire weather outlook warns that strong winds and dry conditions, driven by a system moving through the northern Rockies and into the Dakotas, could increase the risk of wildfires for much of the Desert Southwest.
Some relief is on the horizon starting Sunday, when temperatures are expected to ease into the upper 80s or low 90s.
“These well-above-normal temperatures across the Southwest into the Southern Plains will kind of linger all the way through Sunday,” Mr. Kleebauer said. “And then things start to finally cool down a bit in those areas as we head into early next week.”
Nazaneen Ghaffar is a Times reporter on the Weather team.
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