On Tuesday Phoenix, Arizona set a record at 19 straight days of 110-degree or above heat recordings.
Climate change and a recently identified El Niño have both contributed to rising temperatures this summer across the globe — Phoenix, though, is different among U.S. cities this summer.
On Tuesday the U.S. National Weather Service said temperatures were blazing at up to 116º Fahrenheit.
The Tuesday high broke the previous daily record of 115º, which was recorded in 1989, the service said.
The weather service said the temperature at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport was already at 110º Fahrenheit before noon on Tuesday.
Before the current streak of 19 days in a rowbroke the record for straight days at 110º or above, the previous record of 18 straight days had been set back in 1974, almost half a century ago.
NOAA Climate Analysis Group Director Russell Vose told the Associated Press, "It's the longest streak that we’ve ever seen in this country."
Meteorologist Matthew Hirsch, who works for the weather service in Phoenix, said the heat wave is set to tie another record on Monday afternoon and could break it by Tuesday.
"Take this heat event seriously, even if you're acclimated," Hirsch said. "This event is different from others just because it has been so prolonged, so we're urging people to take it seriously, stay hydrated and stay indoors as much as possible."
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