While July didn’t quite match the scorching and record-setting heat as it did in 2023, this summer’s June was the hottest ever recorded. On average, Phoenix was 2 degrees hotter this summer compared with last year.
But as temperatures are forecast to remain solidly higher than 100 degrees as we enter the Halloween month, Phoenicians may wonder: What’s the hottest October Phoenix has experienced? And could this October surpass it?
Last year, the average temperature in October was 81.9 degrees — the third highest ever, according to monthly average temperatures reported by the National Weather Service. The month was hotter in Phoenix only in 2003 (82.7 degrees) and 1988 (82.4 degrees).
October still offers a nearly 20-degree dip from the summer heat, but even the first full month of fall has been getting hotter over the years.
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service doesn’t forecast average monthly temperatures in the future. But in a 30-day outlook released Sept. 19, the NWS Climate Forecast Center said there was a 40% to 50% chance that temperatures across Arizona would be higher than average during the first 30 days of autumn.
That’s in line with a fall forecast released by the agency, which predicted hotter-than-average temperatures and below-normal precipitation across the Grand Canyon State in September, October and November.
The extreme and unseasonable heat, of course, has deadly consequences. The Maricopa County Department of Public Health has confirmed that extreme heat has caused or contributed to 281 deaths of Sept. 21. It’s still investigating 381 deaths to see whether heat played a significant role.
