By Seth Borenstein and Anita Snow | Associated Press
PHOENIX — Phoenix’s streak of dangerously hot days was poised to smash a record for major U.S. cities on Tuesday, the 19th straight day the temperature in the desert city was to soar to 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 C) or more.
The nights have offered little relief from the brutal heat. Phoenix’s overnight low only dropped to 94 F (34.4 C) on Tuesday, the ninth straight day of temperatures not falling below 90 F (32.2 C), another record.
It’s “pretty miserable when you don’t have any recovery overnight,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Salerno.
The thermometer reached 100 F (37.8 C) before 9 a.m. for the sixth straight day on Tuesday.
The length of Phoenix’s heat wave is notable even during a summer in which much of the southern United States and the world as a whole has been cooking in record temperatures, something scientists say is stoked by climate change.
What’s going on in a metropolitan area known as the Valley of the Sun is far worse than a short spike in the thermometer, experts said, and it poses a health danger to many.
“Long-term exposure to heat is more difficult to withstand than single hot days, especially if it is not cooling off at night enough to sleep well,” said Katharine Jacobs, director of the Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions at the University of Arizona.
Ripples of sweat streamed down the sunburned face of Lisa Miccichi, 38, as she pushed a shopping cart filled with her belongings through downtown Phoenix on Tuesday, looking for a place to get out of the heat.
“I’ve been out here a long time and homeless for about three years,” said Miccichi. “When it’s like this, you just have to get into the shade. This last week has been the hottest I ever remember.”
The last time Phoenix didn’t reach 110 F (43.3 C) was June 29, when it hit 108 (42.2 C). On Monday, the city set a new record with the temperature not dropping…
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