Sweltering heat continues to bake Southwest, elevate fire risk

The record-challenging heat that overspread much of the southwestern United States during the middle of last week is refusing to relinquish its grip on the region.

"High pressure that has dominated the weather pattern across the West through the weekend brought one more day of strong heating to start the traditional workweek," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Rinde said.

High temperature history books began to be rewritten as early as last Wednesday. Los Angeles soared to a record-tying high of 84 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday, which was a whopping 19 degrees above average. On Thursday, San Diego broke a 36-year-old record when the mercury topped out at 88 degrees--21 degrees above average.

The core of the record-challenging heat shifted eastward over the weekend and settled mainly over the Desert Southwest. Las Vegas tied its daily high-temperature record on Saturday when the city topped out at 91 degrees, while Phoenix tied its daily record high on both Saturday and Sunday. The mercury hit 97 on Saturday before climbing to 98 on Sunday. For Las Vegas, it was the first time the city had surpassed the 90-degree mark for 2021. Death Valley, California, also hit the 100-degree-mark for the first time since Oct. 20, 2020.

On Monday, records were challenged across the Desert Southwest once again. Phoenix climbed to 96 degrees on Monday, just 2 degrees shy of tying the daily high temperature record. Farther east, Albuquerque, New Mexico soared to 81 on Monday and tied a nearly 50-year-old record.

"High pressure creates a high-heating potential, which is what the atmosphere will allow under certain conditions," Rinde explained. "It will also limit clouds to get the full effect of the early April sunshine."

Dry ground is able to be heated more effectively by the sun and allows air temperatures to skyrocket. Unfortunately, the ground across the Desert Southwest is some of the driest in the country currently. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a majority of Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, as well as western Colorado, are currently in the midst of extreme to exceptional drought. Exceptional drought is the highest category the Drought Monitor quantifies.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

The high heat and dry conditions on Monday were also accompanied by times of strong winds in parts of southeastern California, southern Nevada and northern Arizona. In combination with the excessively dry conditions, these strong winds worked to raise the level of fire danger for a time Monday.

The elevated fire risk continued on Tuesday, but the core of concern was centered farther to the east and covered much of New Mexico in addition to portions of Colorado and Texas.

Elevated fire risk conditions on Monday will be in play for Nevada as well as each state in the Four Corners region. (AccuWeather)

Residents within the area of highest fire risk should follow the guidance of local authorities on time frames for when any kind of burning is not advised. When sparked, any dry tinder can go up in flames quickly and with gusty winds across the region, rapid wildfire spread is a very real concern.

While the intensity of heat across the Southwestern states is forecast to level off after Monday, above-average warmth will remain in the forecast for many cities through midweek and into the weekend.

"Even with diminished heat the rest of the week in the Southwest, the trend of well above-average temperatures will continue," Rinde said.

With no major alterations to the overall upper-level weather pattern this week in the Southwest, this unseasonable heat will likely retain its grip on the region into the weekend.

High temperatures for much of the Desert Southwest, including the cities of Las Vegas and Phoenix, are forecast to top at least 5 to 10 degrees above average each day from Tuesday to at least Friday.

Since this is the first prolonged and most significant heat wave yet this year, anyone across the southwestern U.S. will want to take extra precautions to lower the risk of heat-related illnesses.

The extreme heat can be dangerous, especially after coming out of the cooler winter months, and forecasters are urging the public to stay hydrated and take measures to prevent heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier, Spectrum, FuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios.