Arizona, 2016

Excessive Heat in Arizona, July 22, 2016

July 22, 2016 · NWS PSR · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Strong high pressure aloft developed over the south central Arizona deserts during the work week ending on Friday July 22nd and this led to widespread excessive heat with many hotter desert locations reporting high temperatures in excess of 110 degrees. An Excessive Heat Warning was in effect for the entire day across the south central deserts, including the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, on…

The toll

Deaths
1
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS PSR wrote it up.

Strong high pressure aloft developed over the south central Arizona deserts during the work week ending on Friday July 22nd and this led to widespread excessive heat with many hotter desert locations reporting high temperatures in excess of 110 degrees. An Excessive Heat Warning was in effect for the entire day across the south central deserts, including the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, on July 22nd; the official high temperature for the day at Phoenix Sky Harbor was 112 degrees. The heat proved to be deadly; a 12 year old boy died from heat stroke during an afternoon hike on the Apache Wash trailhead about halfway between Deer Valley airport and Cave Creek.

Event by event

1 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Excessive Heat, Greater Phoenix Area

When
July 22, 12:00 PM MST to 8:00 PM MST
Where
Greater Phoenix Area forecast zone
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
Broadcast Media

Strong high pressure developed across south central Arizona, including the greater Phoenix area, during the day on July 22nd leading to excessive heat over the lower deserts. The official high temperature at Phoenix reached to 112 degrees. The heat proved to be deadly; according to a report from local broadcast media a 12 year old boy was rushed to the hospital after losing consciousness from heat stroke or heat exhaustion during an afternoon hike. The boy had been hiking at the Apache Wash trailhead located about halfway between Deer Valley airport and Cave Creek. The boy later died. An Excessive Heat Warning had been in effect for the area since noon, continuing on and into the next day.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Excessive Heat, Greater Phoenix Area2016-07-2212MaleOutside/Open AreasDirect

What these are

Excessive Heat
Heat at or above the local excessive heat warning criteria, or heat that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arizona in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, July 2016

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 643377.