Phoenix tries for earliest 100 as heat wave peaks in western U.S.

A clash of seasons is in full effect this week as high-pressure flexes in the western United States Tuesday before journeying eastward. By the weekend we’ll be looking at new rounds of severe weather as the pattern reverts to one seen more commonly of late.

Weather Watch

Hot. Hot. Hot. Summer has arrived (if temporarily) in the western United States. Cities vying for 100 today include Phoenix, Palm Springs and Yuma. If Phoenix hits 100, it will be the earliest on record. Around 90 is anticipated in north Texas, which would also be the first of the year there and on the early side. Record warmth shifts east a notch each day this week, along with the responsible high-pressure zone.

Pattern pause on borrowed time. I called it a pattern pause last week, because the shift to warm west and cooler east looked transient. That still seems to be the case. What has already been a memorable March for storms may go out with a bang as another multi-state severe weather episode appears increasingly likely by the weekend. Beyond, the first week of April also wants to tend active as peak severe weather season begins.

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High temperatures Tuesday

Southern California reached 100 for the first time this year on Monday, and hotter stuff is on tap today.

Among dozens of records at risk across the west, Phoenix is forecast to hit 100 this afternoon, which would be the earliest it has reached that mark in data since 1896. The current holder of that notable mark is 1988, when it happened on March 26.

The National Weather Service forecast, shown above, indicates a number of smaller zones in southern California and Arizona where 100 or higher is expected Tuesday. An overall high temperature of 105 is seen near the southern end of the Salton Sea.

It has been as hot as 107 so far this year, in South Texas on the border with Mexico, in the small town of La Puerta. That reading was just a degree shy of the monthly record for the United States.

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

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