Phoenix broke a record for spring heat. Here’s by how much

For the first time in Phoenix’s history, the average spring temperature topped 80 degrees this year. That makes it the warmest spring season the city has ever experienced, according to National Weather Service data.

With temperatures staying in triple digits this week, Phoenix residents are already feeling the full weight of a desert summer. But they have already been immersed in blistering heat after a record-breaking spring season that brought early heat warnings, triple-digit days and a whole lot of sweat.

“Everyone knows here, it gets hot. But it’s not typically until later in the year,” said NWS meteorologist Alicia Ryan. “People usually aren’t ready for these kinds of temperatures this early on in the year, so they might not be acclimated.”

The average temperature was 80.2 degrees this spring — specifically, March through May. That beat the previous record of 77.7 degrees set in 1989, and it’s also nearly 10 degrees warmer than the average spring. 

This spring saw temperatures well above average each month. 

March started off with a bang with an abnormally high-pressure system “ridging” over the region and staying there, resulting in a “heat dome” that “definitely helped boost the springtime averages,” Ryan said. Phoenix reached 100 degrees for the first time in 2026 by late afternoon on March 18, the earliest triple-digit day that Phoenix has ever experienced. NWS also put out a series of heat warnings to the public from March 19 to 22, the earliest NWS had ever issued a heat warning for Phoenix. The month ended with an average temperature of 78.8 degrees, more than 15 degrees above normal.