Damned Sunny In The Valley Of The Sun

Place just keeps getting warmer:

Friday marked the 50th day to reach 110 degrees or higher in the Valley this year, setting a record nobody wanted.

Before 2020, the previous record for most days in a calendar year to reach 110 degrees was 33 days set in 2011. Phoenix surpassed that on Aug. 9 and has beat it almost every day since then.

Phoenix passed the scorching milestone on Friday afternoon when the temperature at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport hit 111 degrees.

"It's not like we barely broke this record," said National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Hirsch. "We sort of obliterated it."

The heat, Hirsch explained, is largely a result of persistent high pressure this summer. High pressure normally produces warmer than average temperatures. Those conditions were exacerbated by an uncharacteristically dry summer. Phoenix experienced less than 4 inches of rainfall since the beginning of the year.

"When you don't have moisture to cool it down, excessive heat can persist," Hirsch said. "Essentially, we didn't get any relief from monsoon storms."