Navigation

What is the hottest month in Phoenix?

When it’s 110 degrees, the days all blend together. But the hottest months in Phoenix history should be familiar.
Image: a phoenix highway with a billboard reading 107 degrees at 7:25 p.m.
The last two summers in Phoenix were the hottest ever recorded in the city. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Share this:
Carbonatix Pre-Player Loader

Audio By Carbonatix

With temperatures reaching above 110 degrees over the weekend — and an extreme heat warning in effect —- Phoenix’s extreme summer heat is officially here. For the next couple of months, Valley residents will be lathering up with sunscreen, pulling up their car’s sun shade and staying inside to avoid the heat.

This is just the beginning.

If you want to avoid the Phoenix heat, get out of town in July — that's historically the hottest month in the Valley, with an average temperature of 93.5 degrees from 1924 to 2024. August isn't far behind, with an average temperature of 91.7. June is typically cooler, averaging 88.6 degrees.

click to enlarge a graph showing the average summer temperatures in phoenix by month, with each month a different line. all three move gradually up over time
Data via National Weather Service

So, how will this year stack up to the hottest months in Phoenix’s history? Here are the 10 hottest months in the Valley’s history by average temperature, according to the National Weather Service.

10. June 2024 — 97 degrees

One year ago, this month was the hottest June in Phoenix's history. It beat out the previous record of an average temperature of 95.3 degrees from 2021. There were also 14 days that month that saw temperatures reach 110 degrees or higher.

9. July 2003 — 97.6 degrees

This month is the fifth hottest July in Phoenix’s history. The city recorded a record high of 117 degrees on July 16, marking the hottest day of the year up to that point.

Tie-7. August 2011 and July 2009 — 98.3 degrees

Fittingly, given their identical average temperatures, these months both rank as the fourth-hottest in August and July in Valley history.

6. August 2024 — 98.7 degrees

Another record-breaking month from last year, August 2024 was the third hottest August on record in Phoenix. The average high was around 109 degrees.

5. August 2023 — 98.8 degrees

This is the second hottest August in Phoenix history. Summer 2023 was also the driest monsoon season on record, as Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport recorded less than 0.15 inches of rain that season.

4. July 2020 — 98.9 degrees

This is the third hottest July in Phoenix's history. A few months into the pandemic, it set records as the hottest month ever recorded in Phoenix, though that record was broken just a month later. The average high was 109.8 degrees.

3. August 2020 — 99.1 degrees

Following a record-breaking hot July, August 2020 became the hottest August in Phoenix’s history. According to NWS, the summer of 2020 saw a record-breaking 145 days of temperatures above 100 degrees.

2. July 2024 — 101.1 degrees

All three summer months of 2024 land on this list. Fittingly, summer 2024 was the city’s hottest ever. Last year, the city had a record-breaking 70 days of temperatures above 110 degrees.

1. July 2023 - 102.7 degrees

For many Phoenix residents, July 2023 is a hard one to forget. The month saw 31 straight days of temperatures above 110 degrees, which made national news. While being the hottest July ever recorded and the hottest month in Phoenix’s history, it was also the hottest month recorded in any U.S. city.