A ridge of high pressure developing from California is set to raise weekend temperatures to above normal this weekend across the Tucson region and to record highs next week, forecasters say.
For the weekend, high temperatures across Southeast Arizona will range from the upper 80s to low 90 degrees from Tucson and into the 80s across the state's the eastern valleys, the National Weather Service in Tucson says.
A cyclist pedals his way along Maclovio Barraza Parkway on Wednesday afternoon. A warm weekend will be the opener to a stretch of potentially record-breaking heat next week in Tucson and across the West, forecasters say.
It'll be an opener for an especially hot few days next week in which triple digits high temperatures are possible, the forecast shows.
How much hotter than usual will it be in Tucson next week? "On the order of 25 degrees above climatological normal," the weather service predicts.
In fact, the agency says the probability of reaching 100 degrees Wednesday, Thursday or Friday next week are at about 70%.
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Current probability forecasts of 100 degrees of more:
• March 17th — 30% to 60%, from Tucson westward.
• March 18th — 30% to 80%, from Safford westward.
• March 19th — 40% to 85%, from Safford westward.
• March 20th — 40% to 90%, for much of Southeast Arizona.
While evening temperatures will provide some relief, the weather service warned against strenuous outdoor activities, like hiking, during the hottest parts of the four-day stretch.
"It may be a good idea for those not used to the heat or heat-sensitive to shift the timing of their outdoor activities into the morning hours," the weather service said in its weather outlook.
Lou Flowers reads her book in the shade of the Old Pima County Courthouse Wednesday during her lunch break from jury duty.
The earliest date in Tucson for reaching 99 degrees was set on March 26, 1988. That's also Tucson's all time March record since the start of weather records here in 1895, the National Weather Service said.
The earliest date for 100 degrees in Tucson was set April 11, 2025.
The all-time hottest day in March for the state was set in Yuma in 2004, when it reached 104 degrees.
Cyclists cross a bridge on the Chuck Huckleberry Loop Wednesday near Christopher Columbus Park. The weather service warns against strenuous outdoor activities, like biking and hiking, during the hottest parts of a four-day stretch next week when temperatures could reach 100 degrees here.
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