Buckeye temperature jumps from 80s to 100 overnight
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — While you were probably sleeping, the temperature in Buckeye jumped from 86 degrees to 100 degrees in one hour. We called the National Weather Service Phoenix office to make sure this was not an error, but they believe that this was a legitimate reading. So what happened?
A likely part of the reason for this temperature jump was the increase in winds overnight. Check out the hourly temperatures and the corresponding wind gusts during the early morning hours in Buckeye in the graphic below. Notice how the big spike in temperature occurred when the winds picked up.
So how do winds overnight lead to increasing temperatures? At night under calm and clear conditions, a process called radiational cooling often causes the surface to cool down more quickly than the air above it. However, if breezes are blowing, the warmer air above can mix down to the surface. This was probably a factor in the big warmup overnight.
The overnight breezes were also a likely factor in the very warm overnight temperature in Phoenix. This morning, the temperature only made it down to 93 degrees. As long as the temperature does not drop to 91 or lower before midnight, Friday will set a new “warmest low temperature” record for the entire month of September.
The previous “warmest-low” record for the month of September is 91 degrees, which was set in 2011.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
