Saguaro cactus amid mid-afternoon sun.
If you think the Tucson area has been especially hot this year, it's not your imagination.
With a high temperature of 105 degrees on Tuesday October 1st, Tucson reached an all-time high for any day in October so far.
"The previous hottest October temperature prior to today was back in 2020 where we were 103 degrees. So we have well eclipsed that and it just keeps going, the heat just keeps going on," said Glenn Lader, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tucson.
This comes hot on the heels of September's temperatures.
"Tucson experienced its hottest September on record dating back to 1894 for Tucson," added Lader.
"We hit 108 degrees on September 27th, and that obliterated our latest 108 degree temperature that we had in the season. Previous record was on September 10th. So when you think about that, getting 108 in late September and then the previous 108 that we had in September was only on September 10th, so that's a good two and a half week or so difference that really is kind of eye opening."
Not only that, but the high temperatures persisted until the end of the month even though historically, the last 100 degree day has usually been around September 24th.
"We also had our latest 105 degree temperature on September 30th that broke a previous record from September 22nd. That was in 1989. We had six days in September with 105 degrees or hotter, 16 of 100 degrees or hotter," he said.
So far this year, the Tucson area has had 101 days of 100 degrees or more (reached on Wednesday October 2nd) and while that record of 108 days in 2020 has not been broken, there are still more 100-degree days in the forecast this October 2024.
But wasn't there a really nice day when the temperature reached a high temperature of only 86 degrees on Saturday September 21st?
"We did have that one day in the eighties that was about eight degrees or so below normal," Lader said.
"So while it felt great at the time, it wasn't that unusual to see temperatures, you know, in September dipping down that low. It's just compared to how hot it's been, it just felt more noticeable to us."
Glenn Lader is a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Tucson, which has seen record-setting high temperatures in 2024.
Record-setting temperatures are being set in 2024, including the hottest September ever.
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