Arizona Desert Town Sets New US Record for Highest March Temperature
Martinez Lake, located approximately 145 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona, recorded a temperature of 110°F (43.3°C) on Thursday amid intense heat sweeping across the southwestern United States.
A small desert community, Martinez Lake broke the record for the highest March temperature ever documented in the United States, as the region experiences a severe late-winter heatwave.
The National Weather Service confirmed the temperature reading of 110°F (43.3°C) on Thursday in Martinez Lake, which lies on the Arizona-California border within the Yuma desert.
The previous record for the highest March temperature was 108°F (42.2°C), initially set in Rio Grande City, Texas, in 1954, and matched on Wednesday by North Shore, California, a small desert community.
On Thursday, several locations in California also reached 108°F (42.2°C), including Cathedral City near Palm Springs and Thermal, situated northeast of San Diego. These triple-digit temperatures occurred on the final day of winter.
Thermal was forecasted to reach 110°F (43.3°C) on Friday, potentially tying the record.
“For some perspective, the average first 105°F day of the year normally occurs on May 22nd,” the National Weather Service stated.
This week’s heatwave has produced record high temperatures across numerous cities, including Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Francisco.
Ruben Pantaleon, who was cleaning car windshields with a squeegee at an intersection in Thermal on Thursday afternoon, expressed that the heat did not bother him. Wearing shorts and carrying electrolyte drinks, he commented:
“I drank three of those so far. It’s the desert. It gets real hot. I’m not worried about it.”
Several cities experienced their hottest March day on record on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
Phoenix reached 105°F (40.6°C), surpassing the previous record of 102°F (38.9°C) set on Wednesday.
Wednesday also marked the earliest occurrence of triple-digit temperatures in Phoenix. The last time temperatures exceeded 100°F in March was nearly 40 years ago. Due to the risk of heat illness, hiking trails around Phoenix were closed on Thursday.
Las Vegas recorded 95°F (35°C), exceeding the prior record of 94°F (34.4°C) set on Wednesday.
Temperatures in the southwestern region are expected to remain 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit above normal for March throughout the rest of the week, before slightly decreasing on Sunday. Many cities in the area are anticipated to experience their earliest 100-plus°F (37.8-plus°C) day on record, according to the weather service.
A team of scientists stated that this week’s extreme heat would have been “virtually impossible” without the influence of the climate crisis. An analysis released on Friday found that global warming has increased the likelihood of this type of heatwave by a factor of four over the past decade.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
