Historic Heat Dome Unleashes First 100-Degree Temperatures of the Year Across the Southwest

The heat dome that forecasters had been warning about all week has arrived in full force, and it is already proving to be one of the most extraordinary March heat events on record. Dangerous, summerlike temperatures are now baking the Southwest, with the most intense and widespread heat still to come through the end of the work week.

Widespread Temperatures in the 90s and 100s as Historic Heat Dome Peaks

A historic heat wave is now gripping the Southwest, sending the mercury into the triple digits and threatening to rewrite the record books at an unprecedented pace. The unseasonably extreme temperatures are raising the threat of wildfire ignition and spread while also accelerating what was already a dangerously depleted mountain snowpack, deepening concerns about water supplies well into the summer.

Although readings in the 90s are not unusual in the Southwest, dealing with this level of heat in mid-March is genuinely extraordinary. This type of heat typically does not settle into the region for another one to two months. The National Weather Service's own forecasters in Los Angeles put it plainly this week: "The heat event is forecast to be a historic March event, likely breaking many daily and even monthly temperature records."