PHOENIX — Phoenix on Saturday, set a high-temperature record of 115 degrees for the date as emergency crews rescued several hikers having heat-related issues on Valley mountains.
The heat in Phoenix broke the previous record of 113 degrees set in 1945.
Phoenix Fire performed five mountain rescues before lunch on Saturday. All five with heat-related problems.
Rescues occurred on North Mountain, South Mountain, and three on Camelback Mountain. All five people expected to be okay.
"When it gets around that 110, above 100 degrees, we do get a lot of the heat-related problems," said Todd Keller, Public Information Officer for the Phoenix Fire Department. "In the last couple weeks, we have seen a little bit of an uptick."
On Saturday morning, the temperature was recorded at 109 degrees at 11:51 a.m.
Heat records have not only been broken, but shattered in Phoenix this summer.
July and August were the two hottest months ever in Arizona. Phoenix has recorded 52 days of over 110-degree heat and 45 Excessive Heat Warnings.
"We thought last year was bad, which it was, but wow this year is shaping up to be even worse," said Austin Jamison, Meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix. "With the way things are trending, unfortunately, qualitatively, the heat waves are going to become more common."
Jamison said a lack of cool air is preventing humidity and clouds across the state, causing not only less relief from the heat, but also adding to the duration of forest fires.
"You see the wildfires, how many wildfires we've had, they just keep going, and they're big," said Jamison. "Just one after another. By now that should have been dropped, the frequency of those should have been dropped dramatically."
Labor Day Weekend is expected to garner two more excessive heat warnings for the Valley.
Tucson reached 107 degrees, tying a 1945 record.
Numerous other desert areas in Arizona and southern Nevada are under excessive heat warnings in effect through Monday night.
