Historic March heat wave
The U.S. Southwest is locked in a historic March heat wave — temperatures are running 20–40°F above normal and Phoenix hit about 98°F on March 23, marking the fifth straight day of record‑shattering highs (azcentral.com). The same heat dome is stretching from California into the Plains, leaving nearly 9.5 million people under extreme‑heat advisories and contributing to dozens treated for heat illnesses at a recent Arizona airshow (weather.com)(usatoday.com).
U.S. Air Force officials said more than 400 people were treated at the Luke Days airshow and at least 25 were hospitalized, while the Glendale Fire Department reported roughly 30 people were taken to hospitals from the event. (abcnews.com) A remote site near Martinez Lake registered 110°F on March 19–20, breaking the U.S. all‑time March temperature record, and nearby Yuma recorded 109°F on March 20, surpassing the previous March national high of 108°F. (prismnews.com) Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport logged successive triple‑digit readings this week — peaking at 105–106°F on March 20–21 — tying or breaking the city’s all‑time March high and prompting extreme‑heat warnings and trail closures on Camelback, Piestewa and South Mountain. (ktar.com) Forecasters say the heat pattern is broad: the Weather Prediction Center warned roughly 383 daily high‑temperature records could be broken, tied or threatened over the coming week. (wpc.ncep.noaa.gov) Nearly 9.5 million people in the Southwest were reported facing extreme temperatures as the same high‑pressure dome pushed warmth toward the Plains, raising wildfire concerns across the region. (bloomberg.com) National Weather Service offices and local forecasters issued red‑flag warnings and fire‑weather watches across parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas as gusty winds and low humidity combined with the heat to create elevated to critical fire danger. (weather.gov)
