Name: Excessive Heat in Arizona, September 5, 2022
Start: 2022-09-05T12:00
End: 2022-09-05T14:00
Location: Arizona

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
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Fire, smoke and dust
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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 over the region resulted in extreme temperatures. An Excessive Heat Warning conditions were met in the Phoenix area from the 4th through the 7th for temperatures reaching upwards of 105-110 degrees. In the Cave Creek area, a group of 6 hikers ran out of water and were overcome by the heat on the 5th. One of the hikers ended up passing away due to the heat.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 4, 4:42 PM MST, 19 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 4, 4:42 PM MST, 19 hours 18 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Excessive Heat, New River Mesa

When: September 5, 12:00 PM MST to 2:00 PM MST
Where: New River Mesa forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: Fire Department/Rescue
Coordinates: 33.349, -112.491 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

In the early afternoon, 6 hikers 4 miles in on Spur Cross Trail became lost, ran out of water, and their phones died. After finally getting word out, first responders were able to rescue the hikers and airlift them to a hospital. One hiker did not survive. A Scottsdale Fire Captain said the individual died due to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner listed the primary cause of death as dehydration and heat exposure. Temperatures in the early afternoon were around 103-105 degrees.

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.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Excessive Heat, New River Mesa	2022-09-05	32	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

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 2022 Every state in 2022 This day in weather history Warnings in Arizona, September 2022

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: 1059055.