Arizona desert town breaks record for hottest March temperature in US history

A small community in the Arizona desert has broken a record for the highest March temperature ever recorded in the US, as the south-west bakes in a blistering late-winter heatwave.The astonishing temperature was recorded just outside Martinez Lake, Arizona, which reached 110F (43.3C) on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).The community is about 145 miles (233km) west of Phoenix and sits on the Arizona-California border, in the Yuma desert.The previous record of 108F (42.2C) had been set in Rio Grande City, Texas, in 1954 and was tied on Wednesday by the tiny desert community of North Shore, California.By Thursday, several more California locations had hit 108F. Among them were Cathedral City, near the desert destination of Palm Springs, and the town of Thermal, north-east of San Diego. The triple-digit temperatures came on the last day of winter.Thermal was forecast to hit 110F (43.3C) on Friday and could tie the record.“For some perspective, the average first 105F day of the year normally occurs on May 22nd,” the NWS said in a statement.The blistering wave of heat this week has established record highs in dozens of locations, including Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco.As Ruben Pantaleon used a squeegee to clean car windshields at an intersection in Thermal on Thursday afternoon, he said the heat did not bother him. He wore shorts and had a supply of electrolyte drinks on hand.“I drank three of those so far,” he said under the blaring sun. “It’s the desert. It gets real hot. I’m not worried about it.”Several cities on Thursday experienced their hottest March day on record, according to the NWS.Phoenix reached 105F (40.6C), surpassing the previous record of 102F (38.9C) set on Wednesday.Wednesday also marked the earliest day of triple-digit temperatures in Phoenix. The last time Phoenix temperatures climbed above 100F during March was almost 40 years ago. Hiking trails around the city were closed on Thursday because of the risk of heat illness.Elsewhere, Las Vegas hit 95F (35C), topping the previous record of 94F (34.4C) set on Wednesday.It will continue to be 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit above normal temperatures for March for the rest of the week in the south-west before the mercury drops slightly on Sunday. Many other cities in the region are expected to see their earliest 100-plus F (37.8-plus C) day on record, according to the weather service.A team of scientists has determined that this week’s scorching weather would have been “virtually impossible” without the climate crisis. An analysis, released on Friday, found that global heating has made the type of heatwave seen this week four times more likely over the past decade.The Associated Press contributed reporting