Southwest Scorched by Historic Heat; Update: All-Time June Records at Death Valley, Needles

Image (click to enlarge): U.S. daily high temperatures, June 28, 2013, from Unisys. Note the bright blue area of 120°+.

July 1 Update: The 129° at the aptly-named Furnace Creek in Death Valley on June 30 was a new all-time June high temperature record there. The previous record of 128° was set on June 29, 1994 and tied on the same date this year. The June 30 reading also tied the all-time June record for the U.S. which was originally set 111 years ago on June 23, 1902 in the former town of Volcano, California.

The June average temperature of 101.3° at Death Valley easily surpassed the old June record of 100.4° in 1960. The June average daily minimum of 87.1° also set a record, exceeding the 86.8° in 1977.

At Needles, California, where climate history extends back to 1888, all-time June records were set for:
- Average temperature of 95.8° (old record 94.8° in 1994)
- Monthly maximum 123° on the 29th (old record 122° on June 11, 1918 and June 29, 1924)
- Average minimum 81.5° (old record 81.0° in 1981)

June 30, 5 PM PDT Update: As of 5 pm, Las Vegas is reporting a high so far of 117°, which ties the all-time record. The preliminary monthly average of 91.5° smokes the old June record by a full degree.

June 30, 4 PM PDT Update: The current temperature of 116° at Las Vegas ties the all-time June record set on June 15, 1940. This is the third consecutive day of 115°+ at Las Vegas.

Phoenix tied its record for June 30 at 115°.

June 29, 9 PM Update: More major heat records were set today. Some preliminary highlights:
- The 115° at Las Vegas tied the record for the date.
- Needles, California hit 123°, which set a new all-time June record in a climate history extending back to 1888.
- Kingman, Arizona beat its old June all-time high by 2° in a climate record which began in 1901.
- Salt Lake City had 105° for the second consecutive day. This was a new all-time June record.

June 29, 10 AM Update: The National Weather Service has provided additional record reports for Needles and Death Valley, California and Kingman, Arizona, included in the table below.

The 115° at Las Vegas was the first time that level was reached in June since 1994. It was also the hottest June temperature at Needles since 1994. At Kingman, it was the second earliest 110° temperature; the earliest was June 16, 1917. That also ties the all-time June record.

Original Post:
It was historically hot in the desert Southwest today. Over a dozen major National Weather Service climate locations in Arizona, Nevada and interior California tied or broke temperature records for June 28, in some cases by big margins. The highest readings in absolute terms were 118° at Palm Springs, California, which tied its 1979 record, and at Yuma, Arizona. Yuma climate records began nearly 140 years ago, in 1876. The previous record of 116° was tied 3 times, but it was soundly broken by a margin of 2°. At Winnemucca, Nevada the previous record of 101° was set just 3 years ago in a climate history which dates back to 1877, but this was surpassed by an impressive margin of 4°.

Here's a preliminary summary of today's records (POR indicates first year of period of record):

	Location	Record	Previous	Date	POR
AZ	Flagstaff	96	94	1990/1974	1898
	Winslow	107	104	1973	1898
	Prescott	104	100	1990	1948
	Yuma	118	116	1994/1990/1985	1876
	Kingman	110	107	1914	1901
NV	Elko	103	101	1892	1888
	Eureka	100	95	2010/2007	1963
	Tonopah	101	101	1956	1954
	Winnemucca	105	101	2010	1877
	Las Vegas	115	115	1994	1937
	Reno	103	100	2010	1888
CA	Bishop	107	105	1956	1943
	Palm Springs	118	118	1979	1893
	Death Valley	125	125	1994	1911
	Needles	121	119	1994	1888