Heat — Greater Phoenix Area, Arizona

2016-09-09 · Greater Phoenix Area, Arizona

Event narrative

Near normal summer heat occurred in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area on September 9th, the high in Phoenix was 103 compared to the normal of 102. Despite the near-normal nature of the heat, a man from Switzerland who was not used to triple digit heat died while hiking Camelback Mountain in Phoenix during the afternoon. The story was reported on the ABC15 website. According to the Phoenix Fire Department, the man had been hiking Camelback Mountain in the afternoon with 3 friends before he became separated from the group. He was heard yelling for help by employees of the Phoenician Resort who then went to meet him. The man was nearly on resort property when he began behaving erratically and then stopped breathing. Fire crews soon arrived and began performing CPR while on the way to the Phoenix hospital; at the hospital he was pronounced dead.

Wider weather episode

It does not take dangerous or excessive levels of heat during the summer in southern Arizona to cause serious, even fatal, repercussions to the populace of Phoenix. Friday September 9th was a normal summer day in September; the high in Phoenix was 103 degrees and that is just 1 degree above the seasonal normal for the date. Despite the near normal nature of the heat, a man visiting from Switzerland went hiking in the afternoon and he was overcome by the heat, eventually passing away. Fire crews performed CPR on him to no avail. Triple digit heat can be very dangerous, especially to someone who is not used to the heat and who does not take the proper precautions.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 655260. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.