Published July 5, 2024 at 1:20 PM MST
Asphalt absorbs a lot of heat from the sun. And new thermal infrared images from NASA show just how hot Phoenix streets can be on triple-digit days.
NASA used a thermal radiometer on the International Space Station to capture surface temperatures in central Phoenix. A new map shows streets across the city color coded to illustrate temperatures.
The data was recorded on June 19, when the daily high was 106 degrees, but the map shows asphalt across the city that day was between 120 and 160 degrees.
Surface temperatures that hot can cause severe contact burns within minutes or seconds. The Arizona Burn Center – Valleywise Health reports it has seen a dramatic rise in these types of injuries over the past few years. Among the 136 patients treated for these burns last year, the average hospital stay was 12 days. About 10% of those patients died as a result of their injuries, the hospital reports.
The NASA data shows vegetation can make a big difference in surface temperatures. Streets around Encanto Park and other large green spaces in central Phoenix were the coolest areas of the new map, while neighborhoods with less green space, such as Maryvale and the area surrounding Sky Harbor Airport, were hottest.
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As summer temperatures have soared, so too have cases of dehydration and heatstroke in the Mexican state south of Arizona.
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Blood donations have fallen to a four-year low as people face extreme heat, bad air quality and flooding
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Sunday's record passed the previous high set earlier this year, on July 24, by 111 megawatts.
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Reporting from the New York Times has found the death rate from drug overdoses in Arizona has overtaken that of West Virginia for the first time in a few decades.
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A new heat record was set Sunday in the Valley at 115 degrees. An extreme heat warning for Maricopa County has also been extended.