What they don’t tell you about Arizona’s temperature extremes
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5)— Most people know that the hottest temperature recorded in Phoenix was 122 degrees on June 26, 1990.
However, the hottest temperature in the state was recorded at Lake Havasu when the thermometer reached 128 degrees on June 29, 1994.
The coldest temperature ever recorded in Arizona was at Hawley Lake, 8,200 feet in the White Mountains, on Jan. 7, 1971, when it dropped to -40 degrees. And here’s the little secret about the hottest and coldest locations: neither weather station exists anymore.
In Lake Havasu, the “official” gauge was moved in 1999 from Fire Station No. 5, where the record was set, to the Public Works Maintenance Facility. It’s a bit farther north and a bit closer to the lake.
And they’ve never gotten close to the record since. 120s in Lake Havasu City were a regular deal in the 1990s. But not anymore.
At Hawley Lake in the White Mountains, the weather station was abandoned in 1988. But here’s what I love about the all-time low of -40 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s the only “number” that’s equivalent on the Fahrenheit and Celsius scale. As you know, 212 F equals 100 C, the boiling point of water, and 32 F equals 0 C, the freezing point. But check this out. -40 F equals -40 C. That’s cool.
Back to Lake Havasu City, which is hot. There is some dispute which day the 128-degree temperature was reached. Back in the day, the fire department personnel did regular weather observations at 5 a.m. So on the morning of June 29, 1994, they reported the 128 to the National Weather Service. It was that date that stuck in the official record books. But folks in Lake Havasu will tell you it was actually June 28, 1994, when the thermometer reached the magic 128 degrees.
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