A desert community in Arizona recorded the hottest-ever temperature in the month of March in the United States on Thursday as an unforgiving heatwave smothers the West Coast.
The record-breaking temperature was documented near Martinez Lake, an unincorporated community in the Yuma Desert, according to National Weather Service data.
The isolated community, situated along the Colorado River, clocked a blistering 110 degrees on Thursday.
Rio Grande City, Texas, was the previous title-holder for a day in March 1954 when the temperature reached 108 degrees.
An unrelenting heat wave is sweeping across the West Coast this week, pushing several cities to their hottest March day in four decades.
Phoenix, roughly 145 miles away from Martinez Lake, wasn’t spared, with temperatures climbing to 101 degrees on Wednesday and hurdling over its record originally set in 1988.
All hiking trails in the capital city were closed as officials encouraged the public to avoid strenuous activity that could induce heat-related illnesses, like a heat stroke.
North Shore, California, tied a US record on Wednesday when the mercury soared to 108 degrees.
Las Vegas inched up to 99 degrees Wednesday, breaking its previous record of 93 degrees set in 2022. That same day, downtown Los Angeles stayed steady at 94 degrees, also shattering its own record of 87 degrees originally set in 1997.
Thermal, California is bracing for a 110-degree temps on Friday.
Ruben Pantaleon, of Thermal, was chugging electrolyte drinks by the bottle while he cleaned car windshields at an intersection in the Coachella Valley community on Thursday. Even while sweating buckets, he maintained an optimistic outlook.
“It’s the desert. It gets real hot. I’m not worried about it,” he said.
Temperatures in the West Coast will remain unseasonably high — anywhere from 20 to 30 degrees above the average — until Sunday, the NWS warned.
With Post wires
