Humid weekend returns to Yuma County with triple-digit heat

Triple-digit heat was back in Yuma County, but the bigger change was the moisture. After the first showers in a long time, humid air was expected to linger through the weekend and possibly into next week, making familiar June temperatures feel more punishing for farmworkers, construction crews, families at ballfields and parks, and people without reliable cooling.

KYMA’s weekend forecast called for highs of 108 degrees Saturday and 109 Sunday in Yuma County, with temperatures running about 6 to 8 degrees above normal for this time of year. Another forecast from KYMA on June 12 said lingering moisture could keep the area humid, with a slight chance of isolated showers and storms into Saturday, but not enough to knock back the heat.

The National Weather Service forecast for Yuma pointed to the same pattern: a high near 109 Sunday, 109 Monday and 110 Tuesday. The National Weather Service Phoenix office said June 14 that high temperatures running 4 to 8 degrees above normal would be common through the middle of next week, with the hottest stretch expected around Tuesday and Wednesday and widespread moderate to locally major HeatRisk.

That warning matters because humidity changes the risk picture even when the thermometer does not look unusual. Moist air makes it harder for sweat to evaporate, which slows the body’s cooling process and raises the strain on anyone working or exercising outside in the afternoon. The same weather setup can also bring scattered showers and thunderstorms to parts of southeastern Arizona, with concerns about strong outflow winds, blowing dust and lightning.

The weekend pattern fit the broader monsoon outlook already taking shape. KYMA reported June 8 that the National Weather Service Phoenix was forecasting a warmer monsoon season with chances for above-normal rainfall, and noted that late-June and early-July winds can pull moisture into the Desert Southwest from the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of California and Gulf of Mexico. In Yuma County, that kind of moisture often means stickier afternoons rather than a break from the heat.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says extreme heat is especially dangerous when temperatures are substantially hotter and or more humid than average, and it warns that older adults, young children and people with chronic medical conditions face the highest risk. The agency also says more than 700 people die from extreme heat each year in the United States.

Yuma’s own weather records show why residents notice every change in the air. June is one of the city’s hottest months, some recent Junes have brought no measurable rain, and the warmest June average temperature on record reached 89.1 degrees in 2024. Even a brief burst of moisture stands out here, but it does not erase the early-summer heat that is still settling over Yuma County.