Heat envelops our lives in Arizona's Sonoran Desert. How does it define us?
It sends us on the seemingly never-ending search for shade, one of the most sought-after commodities across Phoenix during the hottest months. Who hasn't seen the cluster of cars parked around trees in a big parking lot, the motorists willing to walk a little farther if it means the shelter of a few tree branches.
In America's hottest big city, shade is serious business. Phoenix has set goals for planting trees , trying to widen the reach of the canopy. A new plan calls for 25,000 new trees and 500 new shade structures.
Shade is not distributed equally in Phoenix and its surrounding cities. Researchers have shown repeatedly that higher-income neighborhoods are more likely to support lush landscaping than lower-income areas, leaving those lower-income areas hotter.
David Hondula, who directs Phoenix's Office of Heat Response and Mitigation , has worked on some of that research himself, and he said he wants to see the city create shade more equitably.
“We hear in public engagement and in other planning documents that shade for pedestrians is really important," he told The Republic's Joan Meiners . "People want to feel comfortable and safer as they walk through the city."
Follow along with live coverage from Republic reporters in one of the hottest weeks of the year in the Phoenix area.
Monday's report: 'It's hotter than it's ever been'
Tuesday's report: 'My life revolves around the summer'
Wednesday's report: 'The sun, it gives life, but it will also take it'
Thursday's report: 'I normally wake up at 4:30 a.m.'
Friday's report: 'I don’t mind it. I like the heat'
Cindy Shuler, 72, came to downtown Phoenix’s 24/7 heat relief center on Saturday to cool off.She lost her housing in May and has been sleeping in her car. She had used community centers to cool off during the day before finding out about the respite center.She is unhoused for the first time; and she said it’s her faith in God that keeps her free of stress even though she acknowledges she is struggling. Saving up for a deposit, plus first and last month’s rent on an apartment is a challenge, she says. “I may not have a place or house, but look around,” Shuler says. The room tucked at the back of the Burton Barr Library has roughly 50 people inside. Individuals are sitting at tables and standalone plastic chairs. They’re resting their heads on the table sleeping and playing games on their phones. “I have a place with air conditioning. I have my puppy,” she says.
Her 5-pound chihuahua Honey is white with tan spots. She has a purple collar and “is very protective,” Shuler says. — Taylor Seely
6:20 p.m., Phoenix: 105 degrees
Steven Varnadore stops by the respite center to see how things are going. Community Bridges Inc. operates the centers in Phoenix.
Before the city approved the overnight centers, some elected leaders were concerned about how the facility's visitors might disrupt surrounding communities .
Those most at risk of heat related injury and death in Phoenix are the unhoused population and those with substance abuse disorders. Saturday night, Varnadore had to alert security to escort a woman who tried to smoke fentanyl just outside.
Varnadore acknowledges the center got off to a rocky start with surrounding neighbors, but said that it was completely new and that they had come a long way, thanks to constant communication with neighbors.
"We're better today than when we started," he said.
Varnadore said he hopes the city extends the respite centers past the planned September expiration date.
"It's still hot in October and November," he said.
He stressed that the facility works hard to help individuals find housing and get into programming. Community Bridges also typically sees one family per week come seeking help, he said.
Families with children get diverted to the cooling pod set up in the parking lot. It's a quieter, calmer place, and is also operated by Community Bridges. — Taylor Seely
5:30 p.m., Phoenix: 107 degrees
Cameron Davis, 34, and Jordan Kuhajda, 26, hang outside the heat respite center at Burton Barr Library in downtown Phoenix.
Kuhajda typically spends his days inside the library to keep cool. The AC is a little too cold sometimes, so today he is outside warming up. It is 107 degrees outside. He heads into the respite center around 6:15 p.m.
He said he goes in to cool off and charge his phone before seeking shelter somewhere else. The respite center is not great for sleeping because individuals aren't allowed to lie down. There isn't enough room.
The facility, tucked at the back of Burton Barr Library, where there once was a cafe, is about the size of a large studio apartment. It is filled with tables and standalone plastic chairs. Those inside sleep sitting up, or by resting their heads on the table.
Kuhujda has been going to the respite center because Central Arizona Shelter Services, where he used to go, has become more unsafe, he said.
The respite center isn't free of disruption. Friday evening, a woman was escorted by security off the premises after trying to smoke fentanyl just outside the entrance.
There are also constant fights, Davis said. People fight over petty things, like not being courteous about space, or taking pizza slices without asking. Hungry Howie's is a popular spot for the crowd at the respite center.
But the security is heavy: A pair of private security men guard the door. They check bags and wave metal detector wands over everybody who enters. Phoenix Police sit outside in a car.
Davis said he came to Phoenix about a month and a half ago. He walked from Houston to San Antonio, then hopped on a freight train to Tucson. He walked from Tucson to Phoenix, he said.
The heat doesn't bother him, because he was raised in it. He said he knows to keep hydrated with water or Powerade, not soda.
He sees ambulances come to the respite center at least three times a week because individuals are overdosing or experiencing heat stroke and exhaustion.
He's experienced none of that.
"Keep to yourself. Don't do hard drugs. And try not to owe anyone money," Davis said. That's his key to staying out of trouble. — Taylor Seely
Two-year-old Graysyn-Jade Sciarani took a rare break from swimming to down a bottle of water half her size.
She was one of dozens of children running, splashing and sliding at Eldorado Aquatics and Fitness Center in Scottsdale. Little girls wore pretend mermaid tails, and fathers donned heart-shaped sunglasses for their daughters. Sciarani kept a close watch on the girl in the Lilo & Stitch swimsuit, whose neon yellow lifejacket made her easily visible.
On a day with temperatures reaching 109 degrees, the pool's water, at 82 degrees, offered a refreshing respite. Before daughter Graysyn-Jade arrived, Sciarani and her husband, Jay, would spend their summers in Flagstaff or at Lake Tahoe, where Jay is from. But with a child, they sought more affordable options. This year, they purchased yearlong passes to local pools, museums and libraries, allowing them to beat the heat in places where Graysyn-Jade can learn and have fun.
On this Saturday afternoon, Graysyn-Jade repeatedly slipped out of Jay's arms with a mischievous smile, refusing his attempts to coax her out of the pool for a break. Sciarani noted that her daughter has no fear and loves diving for rings and using the waterslides.
As a mom, she can't afford to be as fearless. In June, another 2-year-old drowned in a Phoenix pool, prompting Sciarani and Jay to be extra cautious with Graysyn-Jade. Ensuring her daughter can swim in Arizona is important to Sciarani, so she enrolled Graysyn-Jade in swim classes at Eldorado for the summer.
"How do you navigate seeing all those stories here in the Valley of children suffering in the heat and everything?" she said. "It's like, we reapply sunscreen, we check the UV every hour, things like that just to make sure she's cool. She's a water baby, she loves it."
Hope Loel said she became a lifeguard to ensure people’s safety in the water. She often reminds swimmers to apply sunscreen and stay hydrated, emphasizing that they usually need more than they think.
Loel said drownings rarely occur at Eldorado due to safety measures like swim tests, where poolgoers under 18 must wear a lifejacket unless they can swim a lap independently.
But dealing with the heat is the most challenging part of her job. Lifeguards are required to take a break inside every 45 minutes, but Loel said she and her colleagues have still experienced heat exhaustion when the temperatures become too extreme.
"I have a lot of electrolytes, a lot of salt — I have thousands and thousands of milligrams of salt per day because if I don't, then accidents happen," Loel said. "And a lot of water. I've been told that I drink too much water." — Christina Avery
Some Phoenix residents remain without power after Wednesday storm
Some residents in a low-income neighborhood in southwest Phoenix still had no air conditioning Saturday after losing power during a storm Wednesday evening. It could be until Sunday evening until all power in the area is restored, APS said.
Tracy Cade, 58, who lives on Hadley Street, said he slept at a sister’s house Friday night to escape the heat inside his house, which on Friday measured 96.2 degrees according to a thermometer. Cade has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and underwent four hours of dialysis on Friday for stage four kidney failure.
Jesus Medina said the power at his house on Maricopa Street came on at 9 p.m. Friday but then went off again at 3 a.m. It came back on at 4 a.m. Medina said he and his family slept in a car Friday night until their house cooled off.
A microburst packing winds of more than 75 miles per hour struck the area Wednesday night and destroyed equipment, APS spokesperson Katie Conner said. The damage was so severe that crews had to finish cleaning up debris before they could work to rebuild the electric system in the area.
APS understands that residents are tired and frustrated, Conner said.
"It’s hot and humid," she said. "We are trying our best to provide relief where we can."
APS distributed ice and food Saturday and is working to maintain a shelter at North High School. Customers can dial 211 for a ride.
The APS website said a total of about 75 customers in three areas near 35 th Avenue and Buckeye remained without power on Saturday. Crews will continue working to finish repairs, Conner said. The current estimate to restore power is late Sunday.
— Daniel Gonzalez
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes stepped in this week to help get the air conditioning back on at a Phoenix apartment building. Residents of other neighborhoods were scrambling to find other ways of surviving the heat when a storm-related power outage stretched into days.
But what happens when your AC goes out? And how do you help keep your system running all summer?
The Republic's Fernando Cervantes, Jr., writes about just those questions on azcentral. He talked to Jay Kline from Penguin Air, who said the best way to stay cool is to take care of your AC with regular maintenance and fresh air filters.
“Just like you're gonna take your car and get the oil changed, make sure to do the regular maintenance on the air conditioner," he said.
Poor maintenance is one of the leading causes of AC breakdowns, Kline said, along with wear and tear and the age of the system.
If you live in a house or apartment owned by someone else, the landlord is required to repair a broken AC under state law.
Read more about AC maintenance and repairs in the full story .
— Republic staff
Last summer, the Phoenix heat grabbed national attention with dangerously long heat waves and high hospital admissions, but this summer could be even worse.
Dr. Wit Koenig, associate medical director of Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Emergency Department, has seen even more heat-related illness patients admitted to the ER this year, she said. The sickest patients can come in with temperatures above 104 degrees or are unconscious.
“It’s frustrating because we’re seeing a lot of very critically ill, very hot patients,” Koenig said.
The heat can quickly turn deadly. More than 600 people died from heat-related illnesses in metro Phoenix last summer. This summer, St. Joseph's Hospital implemented a new protocol on how to treat patients with heat-related illnesses. Koenig said that is leading to quicker recovery times and fewer deaths.
As part of that protocol, health care professionals are turning to ice immersion treatment.
“That lowers their temperatures rapidly so that we can focus on the other emergencies that they’re experiencing and take the heat illness aspect out of the picture," Koenig said.
Part of the reason the treatment was not used much in the past is that an ice bath can interfere with heart rate monitors and other systems.
To work around this, hospital staff use an “ice immersion bag” with ice and water that the patient is placed inside. The newer method has not been studied at length for general patients, Koenig said. Most of the medical literature on the tactic is from military medicine.
“Phoenix is leading the way on how to take care of these patients,” Koenig said.
— Helen Rummel
When someone dies in a situation where heat was involved, the medical examiner looks for contributing factors. It's why heat deaths are classified as heat-caused or heat-related.
One of the leading contributing factors, according to the Maricopa County Health Department, is alcohol and drug abuse. In 2023, substance abuse was found in nearly two-thirds of the people who died of heat or heat-related causes.
— Republic staff
It was still in the lower 90s when the Ellish family got their weekend started at the Uptown Farmers Market at North Phoenix Baptist Church.
The family of three prefer to shop local and support Arizona farmers by picking up their weekly supply of produce.
“This is our favorite farmers market,” 49-year-old Jeff Ellish said of the weekly gathering of artisans, makers and farmers. “We like a lot of the vendors, we go back to the same vendors and like supporting local, local small business owners.”
The Uptown market is open year-round Saturdays, from 7-11 a.m. It also hosts a Wednesday night market from October through May.
“We have our favorites that we need to eat every week,” 48-year-old Courtney Ellish added with a laugh, noting that they attend the mostly outdoor market just about every week.
As longtime Phoenicians — namely Courtney who was born and raised in the Valley — the couple and their 17-year-old daughter, Claire Ellish, complete their errands in the morning during the summer.
“Usually, we get up early and get a lot of our chores done like we're doing today,” said Jeff, who moved here 25 years ago from Illinois. “Then we take the middle of the day to enjoy some air conditioning and then exit the house, depending on how hot it is later in the evening and if we’re trying to get some more fresh air.”
Just after 8 a.m., uptown Phoenix was hitting 91 degrees and climbing. The 46% humidity, though, made it feel more like 96 degrees.
On the grass, where the Ellishes and hundreds of other shoppers were perusing the rows of vendors, it was 95 degrees. The sidewalk was already in the triple digits, measuring 109 degrees.
“I've been here all my life,” noted Courtney, when asked how the family copes under the Valley’s unforgiving heat. “You acclimate to it. I'm always outside. So that's one way to manage summers.”
Noting the common refrain among Valley residents, the Ellish family said the dry heat really makes a huge difference when surviving the summers.
For Jeff, who has relatives in the Midwest, he often hears their concerns over him leaving the house.
“I tried to tell them,” he said, “it's not as bad as you think as long as you are smart with how much time you're outside and how you take care of your health.”
— Shawn Raymundo
The high temperature reached 110 degrees Friday in Phoenix, the 22nd time in July the airport has recorded a daily maximum of 110 or more. But the forecast suggests we may slide below that mark this weekend, with temperatures expected to top out around 108 degrees Saturday and 107 degrees Sunday.
It's a bit of a change over July 2023, when the airport posted 110-degree highs 30 days out of 31.
Overnight, the low was 88 degrees, which is 3 degrees above normal, but still below 90 degrees. The forecast shows sub-90 overnights for the next five days.
Monsoon storm activity is also expected to ease through the weekend, with no rain in the forecast.
— Republic staff
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Extreme heat in Phoenix area: Downtown respite center offers shelter, security
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