Heat on blast in Southwest U.S. as tropics light up

Gifford Fire in California running at megafire status.

Author

Ian Livingston
August 07, 2025

It’s all about summertime weather out there at the moment. Not a shocker for August? The Southwest U.S. heat may reach peak Thursday as fires or tropical cyclones dominate other weather news.

Weather watch

Big heat. It’s another day of extreme heat across the Desert Southwest. Phoenix hit 116 Wednesday, which was just shy of the hottest of the year there, but still a record for the date. Similar or a touch hotter is expected Thursday as heat advisories now extend eastward to include cities like Dallas. I’m watching for potential of the hottest temperature in the Lower 48 this summer, with 125 forecast in California Thursday.

Tropics alight. The Atlantic and Pacific both have plentiful activity to monitor and that should continue to be the case ahead. Experts at Colorado State University issued an update to their seasonal forecast for the Atlantic, with expectations of 12 more named storms, including eight hurricanes. Dexter may even become a hurricane during the next day over open water southeast of the Canadian Maritimes.

Dexter trying to become a hurricane while wrapping some wildfire smoke. (Colorado State)

Megafire. The Gifford Fire in southern California, started Aug. 1, is on the cusp of becoming a megafire. A term used for blazes that grow past 100,000 acres, it will be the second of the year in the Lower 48 — Arizona’s Dragon Bravo is the other — as fire weather worsens in the western U.S. amid large-scale drought and excessive heat.

France battles largest wildfire in decades, one person killed. (Reuters, Manon Cruz and Charlotte Van Campenhout)

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Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster. Connecting weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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