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'
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: Hospitals turn to ice immersion to treat heat patients
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