An early heat wave baking the West this week obliterated quite a few records in California and Arizona on Wednesday and Thursday.
The neighborhood of Martinez Lake in Arizona’s Yuma County hit a jaw-dropping 110 levels Fahrenheit on Thursday, setting a file for the highest March temperature in U.S. recorded historical past, according to the National Weather Service.
The summerlike situations are anticipated to persist and unfold east in the coming days.
Across Southern California and the desert Southwest, round 38 million individuals had been below warmth alerts. High temperatures in the higher 90s and triple digits have been widespread all through the area on account of a sprawling warmth dome that is still parked over the West.
On Thursday, Palm Springs, California, hit 107, setting a brand new file for the month of March. The earlier file, of 105, was set Wednesday.
The metropolis of Indio in the Coachella Valley additionally set a file for March on Thursday, when temperatures climbed to 108.
San Francisco hit 85 Thursday, the metropolis’s new hottest March temperature. This week additionally marked the first time San Francisco has recorded 4 consecutive days at or above 84 in the winter. The metropolis usually averages solely seven days per 12 months at or above that mark, in response to climate records.
Various every day records had been damaged throughout California, as nicely, together with a 101 degree reading in Riverside on Thursday. Records set the prior day included highs of 95 in Anaheim, 88 in Sacramento and 85 in San Diego, in response to the climate service.
In Arizona, in the meantime, Phoenix recorded its earliest triple-digit day Wednesday, with a excessive of 102. Temperatures then reached 105 Thursday.
“This is not only the first 100° day of 2026, but it is also the earliest occurrence of 100° in Phoenix (which last occurred on March 26, 1988),” the native workplace of the climate service wrote Wednesday on X.
Phoenix is forecast to hit 106 Friday and Saturday. An excessive warmth warning is in impact for the area by way of Sunday.
Las Vegas has equally sizzled. On Thursday, the metropolis set a brand new March file of 95, according to the local office of the weather service. Temperatures there might attain 100 Friday.
New records had been additionally set in Utah and Colorado: Salt Lake City on Thursday hit 81, the metropolis’s earliest 80-degree day on file and a brand new file for March. Average highs in Salt Lake City at the moment of 12 months usually hover round 57, in response to climate records. In Denver, in the meantime, temperatures reached 85 Thursday, one other month-to-month file.
Friday forecasts for Colorado present highs of 84 in Denver, 86 in Fort Collins and 83 in Boulder. On Saturday, the projected highs tick up even additional. The weather service warned that excessive warmth, mixed with gusty winds and low humidity, are increasing the risks of wildfires in the state.
Even components of Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming are experiencing unseasonably heat situations. The climate service workplace in Boise mentioned Wednesday afternoon that the metropolis measured a excessive of 80.
“This is the earliest date for 80 degrees in records dating back to 1875, and only the second time Boise has ever reached 80 in winter, the other time being March 19, 1997,” the climate service workplace said on X.
Heat will proceed to construct heading into the weekend and is predicted to maneuver east into the Rockies and the central and southern Plains.
“By Saturday, expect maximum temperatures in the middle to upper 90s across Texas and low to middle 90s as far north as Nebraska and South Dakota,” the company said Thursday.
This week’s heat dome is brought on by a cussed ridge of excessive strain that has trapped sizzling air over the West like a lid on a pot.
While it may be difficult to tease out the precise affect of local weather change on particular climate occasions, global warming is known to make heat waves more frequent, extra intense and longer-lasting.
