Phoenix Extends Record-Breaking Heat as West Faces Fire Threat

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(Bloomberg) — Phoenix has had a record-breaking run of high temperatures and that streak will continue through the coming week, as heat and fire risks spread across the wider US West.

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Through July 31, Phoenix had reached 95F (35C) or higher 100 times so far this year, said Marc Chenard, a senior branch forecaster at the US Weather Prediction Center. 

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The fifth most populous US city, whose broader metropolitcan area is home to about 5 million people, has been above 90F or higher since May 30.

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Phoenix is forecast to reach a high of 116F Saturday and remain above 110F through at least Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. Across the wider West, extreme heat warnings and advisories stretch from Southern California, including Los Angeles, to Montana, where month high temperature records may be broken.

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“The heat kind of peaks today through Monday,” Chenard said. “Even after that, the magnitude and coverage should be a little less, yet it’s still going to stay above average.”

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In addition to posing health threats, extreme heat drives up air conditioning use, taxing power grids and raising energy use. The hot, dry air also leaves parched vegetation vulnerable to fires and has led to extreme and critical fire weather conditions across parts of five states, including Washington and Oregon, where blazes have been raging for weeks.

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The US is currently at fire preparedness level 5, the highest on the National Interagency Fire Center’s scale. There are currently 87 large fires burning around the country, the most in Oregon with 30, the agency said.

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Through July 31, 44,004 wildfires have scorched more than 4.8 million acres (1.9 million hectares), the most since 2022 and well above the 10-year average of more than 3.6 million acres.

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Across the US, 54 mostly daily high temperature records will be threatened, broken, or tied through Monday, the Weather Prediction Center said. Billings, Montana, is forecast to reach 106F, which would be the highest August temperature recorded there, Chenard said.

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While temperatures won’t be as extreme in Los Angeles, the city and wider region is under an extreme heat warning through Sunday. High temperatures also spread into northern Mexico, including parts of Baja California and Sonora, where peak readings may reach 113F or more, and north into Canada. Heat warnings and air quality alerts have been posted from British Columbia to Manitoba by Environment and Climate Change Canada.

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Cooler conditions prevail across the eastern US, where Saturday’s high in New York’s Central Park is forecast to reach a seasonable 84F under partly cloudy skies and 82F on Sunday with a chance of showers.   

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