PHOENIX — A historic heat wave that has gripped the U.S. Southwest throughout July, blasting residents and baking surfaces like brick, is beginning to abate with the late arrival of monsoon rains.
Forecasters expect that by today, people in metro Phoenix will begin to see high temperatures fall under 110 degrees for the first time in a month.
The high temperature in the desert city with more than 1.6 million residents climbed past 110 on Saturday for the 30th straight day, the National Weather Service said. The previous record stretch of 110 or above was for 18 days in 1974.
There were increased chances on Sunday of cooling monsoon thunderstorms. The weather service warned, however, that wet weather can also bring damaging winds, blowing dust and the chance of flash flooding. Sudden rains running off hard-baked surfaces can quickly fill normally dry washes.
Last week, the overnight low at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport fell under 90 for the first time in 16 days, finally giving residents some respite from the stifling heat once the sun goes down.
Temperatures also were expected to ease in Las Vegas, in Albuquerque and even in Death Valley, Calif., where the weather service said the expected high was forecast to lower to 113 by Tuesday — along with a slight chance of rain.
Also in California, triple-digit heat was expected in parts of the San Joaquin Valley from Saturday through today, according to the National Weather Service in Hanford, Calif.
Gusty, late-afternoon winds were expected Saturday and Sunday in Santa Barbara County, posing an elevated risk of fire weather, the weather service in Los Angeles said. Hot, dry weather was also expected across nearby valleys, lower mountains and desert areas.
In Riverside County, more than 1,300 people were ordered to evacuate their homes and another 1,400 were facing evacuation warnings as crews battled a wildfire that charred 3.2 square miles in the community of Aguanga, about 60 miles northeast of San Diego, authorities said Saturday. One firefighter was reported to have been injured in the so-called Bonny Fire, which authorities said was about 5 percent contained.
The heat is impacting animals as well. Police in the city of Burbank, Calif., found a bear cooling off in a Jacuzzi behind a home on Friday. Police released a video of the animal in a neighborhood about 10 miles north of Los Angeles near the Verdugo Mountains and warned residents to lock up food and garbage.
A downward trend in Southwest heat started Wednesday night, when Phoenix saw its first major monsoon storm since the traditional June 15 start of the thunderstorm season.
