But it’s a dry killer heat. I’ve lived in Phoenix and now Las Vegas for 40 years and have seen plenty of record hot days. 122° in Phoenix, 117° in Las Vegas. Put in a ten hour day on an environmental drilling project at 120° in the shade. But I have never seen a severe heat wave of this duration.
Usually, around the 4th of July we are starting to see intermittent monsoon weather where the humidity goes up and max temps go down. This monsoon condition happens when an annual summer high pressure system develops over northern Texas and Oklahoma and there is a low pressure system off Baja or So Cal. These systems grind like gears funneling moist air from the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico into southern Arizona and New Mexico.
Some this flow from the southeast tracks thru Tuscon, then Phoenix and we get the leftovers here in Las Vegas. Sometimes just humidity, sometimes major storms. We watch the dewpoint as an indicator. When the dew point rises to 55, it’s a monsoon sort of day. So far this year we had one or two days such days with a few small to moderate cumulus clouds. Another indicator is when your cold beer sweats and you may need to set it on a napkin.
I drive thru the homeless district north of downtown about two or three times a week. I see hundreds of people trying to get out of the sun and hunkered down under overpasses. This heat is deadly for them and anyone working outside, pets, too. Yesterday, I noticed people carrying bags of melting ice, so there is a little help making it to the streets. Unless they have coolers, that ice will be gone in minutes. No matter what 117° in the shade is unsustainable. Much hotter in the sun with concrete sidewalks measuring 145 to 155°.
It’s a killer heat!!!