It’s official: Summer 2020 was a hot mess for the ages

It goes without saying, perhaps, that the summer of 2020 was the hottest ever.

Just about every day, it was a sweaty progression toward the record, with temperatures regularly above 110 degrees. And then at some point, it was a fait accompli.

Well, now it’s official.

According to the National Weather Service, Phoenix Sky Harbor had the most searing astronomical summer – that’s June 22 to Sept. 21 – since records started being kept in 1895.

Four of the top five hottest summers occurred in the past decade.

In addition, Sky Harbor set an all-time record for mean high temperature (108.6) and low temperature (85.2) for the same period.

September has remained relatively hot, but some cooler nights are ahead, forecasters said. It’s unlikely, as a result, the month will finish as the hottest on record. With the month currently in third place for highest average temperature (behind 2001 at 102.2 degrees and 2018 at 91.9 degrees) with 91.6 degrees, the weather service said it is unlikely it will vie for the record.

Even with two straight days with a bit of rain, the region remains in extreme drought with a weak monsoon season and significantly-below-normal rainfall. As a whole, Arizona had a record-dry summer, defined as June, July and August, forecasters said.

With widespread rainfall unlikely before the monsoon season ends and the dry fall season, improvement is not expected, the National Weather Service said.