By Sharon Bernstein, Rachel Nostrant and Rich McKay
July 15 (Reuters) - Michael Shields has serviced swimming pools in the Phoenix area for years, enough time to hone a strategy for surviving the brutal heat that descends on this Arizona desert city every summer.
He typically rises at 4 a.m., covers himself in protective clothing, loads up on electrolyte drinks and drenches his hands and face in sunscreen. Ready to face the inferno, he arrives at his first customer's home well before dawn, when the temperature is already in the mid-90s Fahrenheit.
It is unsurprising to have days when the mercury climbs to well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) in the summer here. But over the past two weeks, the mercury has hit 110 degrees F (43 C) or higher every afternoon, a streak of extreme temperatures that could stretch into next week, breaking Phoenix's 1974 record of 18 consecutive days, forecasters say.
The temperature looks set to hit 115 F (46 C) on Saturday and 116 (47 C) on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
It has been a heat wave that has given pause to many Phoenix residents, even to summer-tested veterans like Shields, who says he's been avoiding news reports about it.
"I don't look at the weather," said Shields, 67. "I can get psyched out that way."
Climate Check, a climate-focused real-estate analysis group, reported that between 1985 and 2005, Phoenix experienced about seven days a year above 109 F (43 C). By 2050, they estimated, Phoenix residents are expected to see an average of 44 days per year over that temperature.
Heat-related deaths in Phoenix’s Maricopa County have risen over the last few years, increasing from 338 in 2021 to 425 last year. So far in 2023, there have been 12 heat-related deaths, with 55 still under investigation.
As the latest heat wave progressed, emergency services workers and a government office focused on helping the city deal with the heat have distributed bottled water to homeless people and encourage them to seek shelter in several public cooling stations.
Because the region is not cooling down as much as it normally would at night, some of the cooling stations are extending their hours, said David Hondula, who directs the city's Office of Heat Response and Mitigation.
This summer, the city has nearly doubled the number of volunteers handing out water, hats and sunscreen, he said. Because the heat is worsened by a lack of shade trees, the city plans to offer grants to help people plant them.
PARK CLOSURES
Hiking trails at nearby Piestewa Peak and Camelback Mountain have been closed during the hottest hours of the day. Phoenix Parks and Recreation spokesman Adam Waltz said the temperatures on the unshaded portions of the trails can hit 130 or 140 degrees (54 or 60 C), as the sun beats down and heat rises off the earth.