As California braces for an extreme heat wave this weekend, Phoenix in neighboring Arizona is experiencing a scorching summer.
Of course, it is always very hot at this time of year in the center of this state, but summer there seems endless this year: Phoenix thus experienced, on Tuesday, September 3, its 100th consecutive day – since May 27 – with temperatures of at least 100°F (degrees Fahrenheit) or 37.8°C.
According to data from the US Weather Service (NWS), the record of 76 consecutive days set in 1993 has been greatly surpassed. And no respite is expected in the coming days, when, according to meteorologists from the NWS, long periods of heat in the desert are usually interrupted by rain at this time of year.
Phoenix residents experienced 37 nights this summer where the temperature did not drop below 90 degrees, another record. “Not being able to cool down at night can affect people’s health because heat can build up in the body.”“We are very excited to see this,” Erinanne Saffell, a climatologist at Arizona State University, told the AP.
Many deaths
Public health officials in Maricopa County, where Phoenix is located, said that as of Aug. 24, 150 heat-related deaths had been confirmed so far this year and another 443 were under investigation. In 2023, 645 heat-related deaths have been recorded in the county of about 4.5 million people.
Across the western United States — whether in Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah or New Mexico — the summer of 2024 is projected to be record-breaking for heat. In Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas, 181 heat-related deaths have been confirmed so far this year. But the death toll is likely much higher, officials say, because in most cases, it takes three months before the results of an investigation are known.
In California’s Death Valley, one of the hottest places on Earth, the mercury is expected to reach 47°C, slightly below the 50°C already reached in July in this desert region.
Closer to the Pacific Ocean, in certain areas of Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States, temperatures are expected to reach 45°C, such as in Woodland Hills, an exclusive neighbourhood located inland about 15 kilometres from Malibu, located on the coast.
Increased frequency of heat waves
According to meteorologists, an anticyclone is expected to raise temperatures well above seasonal norms in this region, sometimes by more than 10°C. The heat wave is expected to extend from midday on Wednesday until Friday evening, warned the American meteorological services. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced the opening of several air-conditioned centres so that city residents who do not have access to air conditioning can come and take shelter there.
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Record
According to climatologist Daniel Swain, even coastal areas, which have so far enjoyed a milder summer as usual, will this time experience the same temperatures as inland areas.
“Most areas very close to the coast had escaped temperature records this summer”which means that “Although most of California’s land area experienced record-breaking summer temperatures, this was not the case for the majority of its population.”the coasts being the most populated areas, he writes on his blog.
Repeated heat waves are a marker of climate change caused by humanity’s dependence on fossil fuels, scientists insist. According to a recent report by the US Environmental Protection Agency that analysed data from 50 major US cities, the average frequency of heat waves increased from two per year in the 1960s to six per year in the 2010s and 2020s.
