‘Relentless Heat’ Over Phoenix & West Shouldn’t Be A Surprise Given The Summer It Was In Plains

It’s interesting to see the reports fly in about how ‘relentlessly’ hot it’s been in the last 10 days over the West with Phoenix being highlighted. 9 out of the last 10 days has seen Phoenix top 110° with the highest value being 116°.

Much more impressive is Death Valley with just 2 out the first 14 days failing to top 120°, 10 consecutive days have topped 120° with the highest being 126°, the warmest August reading since 1998.

While not particularly unusual for June and particularly July, this is noteworthy due to it’s late arrival. 9 days in a row above 110° and a peak high of 116° in Phoenix is pretty normal during a midsummer heatwave.

Like I said, what could be considered impressive is the late arrival of this level of heat and at a time when averages are now dropping. It also goes against the trend of the last 10 years when the front and mid point of summers in the West where always worst. August has tended to be a lot cooler, with thunderstorms a frequent player.

The reason for this severe late summer heat is likely due to the nino shift and how hot it was out on the Plains just 2 weeks ago

In my opinion, the heat we’ve seen, which is now easing somewhat, could well be a byproduct to the hot conditions seen further east over the Plains and Midwest this summer. While conditions were near normal over the Deserts June and July. The coastal California was a good 1-2° below normal.

With the heat over the Plains was relentless with an accummulation effect over a period of 1-2 months. I struggled to see this heat just dissappear. How could a cold front even get into this cauldron?

I’ll tell ya how… shift the el nino warm pool away from the South American coast and out into the central Pacific and you might just find the hot dome over the central US likewise shifts west. In other words, I think it’s plausible to suggest that this hot dome has simply shifted west and with the desert landscape reaction, so classic heat wave conditions kick in over the Desert Southwest and West overall.

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