Phoenix smashes heat records for 10 straight days as sweltering temps grip West

A scorching streak in Phoenix has set new daily records for 10 straight days during an October heat wave sweeping much of the West.

At 109 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, Phoenix was over 10 degrees hotter than its normal temperature on that day of the year, which is 94 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

The forecast calls for this streak of broken records to potentially reach up to 16 days in a row. The current record at a U.S. climate station for the number of consecutive daily record highs is 14 from Burlington, Iowa, recorded during the Dust Bowl in 1936. 

Dozens more October monthly record highs were set Thursday in states such as Kansas and Nebraska. California also broke records, including 105 degrees in Hanford, 104 degrees in Stockton and 105 degrees in Fresno, according to the NWS.

Today, 29 million people are under heat alerts across the Southwest and Rockies. The Plains and Midwest will see sizzling highs in the 80s and 90s and the Northeast is set to soar 5-10 degrees above average. Over 75% of the mainland U.S. will see temperatures of 10-25 degrees above average as extreme temperatures rage on throughout the weekend.

As excessive heat persists in the lower-48, tropical trouble is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico as the National Hurricane Center continues to watch an area that could gradually develop into a tropical or subtropical depression or storm sometime next week.

Regardless of development, there's a strong chance of very heavy rain starting this Sunday and continuing throughout next week in Florida. Areas along and south of the I-4 corridor, including the Tampa Bay region hard-hit by Hurricane Helene, could see over six inches of rain.

Meteorologists are closely monitoring two key zones: Sarasota to Naples and Daytona Beach to West Palm Beach, both of which could see particularly heavy downpours.

The National Hurricane Center also continues to watch Hurricane Kirk and Tropical Storm Leslie in the open Atlantic, though neither pose any threat to land.

Storms like these rarely develop in the far eastern tropical Atlantic in October. Normally, tropical systems form closer to the U.S. in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico as the fall season progresses, so these powerful storms are a striking reminder of the record-warm water temperatures fueling these phenomena.

Hurricane Kirk made history when it reached Category 4 status Thursday, shattering the record for the farthest east an Atlantic Category 4 or 5 hurricane has formed in October and November. With winds of 145 miles per hour Thursday, the storm also became the strongest hurricane this late in the calendar year since Hurricane Iota in 2020.