Yuma returns to triple-digit heat as June begins

Yuma climbed back into triple-digit territory as June began, with temperatures already near 99 degrees on Sunday and a forecast high around 103 degrees Monday. The shift will land first on people working outside, summer sports teams, pets and households already watching air conditioners work harder, while El Centro was also headed for roughly 102 degrees.

The return to heat came after a relatively calm weekend, but the break was not expected to last long. Winds stayed light through much of Saturday and Sunday, then were expected to pick up Monday evening, with Yuma gusts in the mid-teens and El Centro gusts potentially reaching the low 20s. Air quality alerts were no longer in place, but moderate air quality was expected to continue across Yuma County and the Imperial Valley, which means residents spending long stretches outdoors still needed to be careful in the heat.

For Yuma, the forecast fit the region’s seasonal rhythm. National Weather Service climate tables show the average first 100-degree day in Yuma lands on April 25, while the average first 110-degree day arrives June 11. Yuma also averages 109 days a year at or above 100 degrees in the period-of-record climate summary, and 118 days in the 1991 to 2020 normals. The longest stretch of 100-degree-or-greater days on record lasted 99 days, from May 31, 2006, to September 6, 2006.

That kind of heat is more than a weather line in Yuma County. The Yuma County Department of Public Health says heat-related illness can be deadly, and it reported 4,325 heat-related hospital or emergency-room visits statewide in 2022, along with 359 heat-caused deaths and 671 heat-related deaths. The county urges residents to know where water and cooling sites are located, sign up for Heat Alerts, stay up to date on local forecasts and check on people at high risk. The Arizona Department of Health Services says Arizona is one of the hottest places on earth from May to September, about 4,298 people visit state emergency rooms every year because of heat-related illness, and more than 4,320 people died from exposure to excessive heat in Arizona from 2013 to 2024.

The short-range outlook offered only a small break. Yuma could ease back into the high 90s by next weekend, still hot by everyday standards and still close enough to triple digits to keep heat safety at the center of daily planning.