Whether you’re in Phoenix for a few days in June, July or August or you’re about to spend your first entire summer in the Valley, you’re going to experience our infamous heat. The average temperature in July, for example, hovers around 106 degrees, but June is statistically our hottest month. Individual days – or clusters of them – reach 110 degrees or higher.
However, rumors of 130-degree days are mythical. The highest official temperature ever reached in Phoenix of 122 degrees was achieved over a quarter century ago – on June 26, 1990, at 2:47 p.m. local time. Before that, the long-standing record had been 118 degrees. This new high of 122 was considered so extreme that no one knew what to expect, so officials closed Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport until the mercury had fallen considerably. The record has never been exceeded or even tied in the years since.
Nevertheless, you will meet people all over town who will swear to you that they experienced temperatures in the high 120s or even over 130. This seems best attributed to wildly over-reacting bank temperature signs of the not-so-distant past. Most very extreme heat has been recorded in late June during those final hot, dry days before the legendary monsoon breaks the pattern, generally right around July 4.
