224  
FXUS65 KPSR 220454  
AFDPSR  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ  
954 PM MST SUN JUN 21 2026  
   
UPDATE...UPDATED 06Z AVIATION DISCUSSION  
 
 
   
KEY MESSAGES  
 
- TEMPERATURES WILL SLOWLY RISE TO ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS OVER THE  
NEXT FEW DAYS CREATING WIDESPREAD MODERATE HEAT RISK BY TUESDAY.  
 
- STRONG HIGH PRESSURE WILL PEAK ACROSS THE REGION MIDWEEK WITH  
DAYTIME HIGHS LIKELY REACHING THEIR PEAK ON WEDNESDAY OR  
THURSDAY BETWEEN 110 TO 114 DEGREES ACROSS THE LOWER DESERTS.  
 
- LOCALIZED MAJOR HEAT RISK WILL BE POSSIBLE ON WEDNESDAY AND  
THURSDAY BEFORE A COOLING PERIOD BEGINS STARTING FRIDAY.  
 
 
   
SHORT TERM /TODAY THROUGH MONDAY/  
 
THE SUBTROPICAL HIGH, WHICH CURRENT 500 MB RAP ANALYSIS CENTERS  
OVER NORTHERN SONORA, REMAINS FLATTENED UNDER BROAD TROUGHING TO  
OUR NORTH. GUIDANCE REMAINS IN EXCELLENT AGREEMENT THAT THIS  
TROUGHING IN THE NORTHERN STREAM WILL PROGRESS FROM THE  
INTERMOUNTAIN WEST INTO THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS EARLY IN  
THE UPCOMING WORK WEEK. AS THIS TROUGHING DEPARTS, HEIGHTS ALOFT  
WILL BEGIN TO REBOUND MONDAY, RESULTING IN A WARMING TREND THROUGH  
THE FIRST HALF OF THE WORK WEEK. ENSEMBLE MEANS ADVERTISE CURRENT  
H5 HEIGHTS RISING FROM 590 DAM TO AROUND 593-596 DAM LATE MONDAY,  
WITH THE SUBTROPICAL HIGH BUILDING TO OUR SOUTHEAST OVER FAR  
NORTHERN MEXICO NEAR THE AZ/NM AND INTERNATIONAL BORDERS. THESE H5  
HEIGHTS LATE MONDAY REPRESENT VALUES AROUND THE 96TH-98TH  
PERCENTILE OF CLIMATOLOGY. FOLLOWING ONE MORE MORNING WITH  
WIDESPREAD LOWS IN THE 70S, LOWER DESERT HIGHS ARE FORECAST TO  
RISE TO BETWEEN 105-109 DEGREES ON MONDAY PUTTING THE BULK OF THE  
AREA INTO THE MODERATE HEATRISK CATEGORY. THE PLACEMENT OF THE  
SUBTROPICAL HIGH WILL ALSO SWITCH FLOW ALOFT OUT OF THE SOUTH,  
SUPPORTING AN INCREASE OF MOISTURE ESPECIALLY FOR THE WESTERN CWA  
BEGINNING MONDAY. THE INCREASING HUMIDITIES WILL HAVE A BIGGER  
IMPACT ON OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES STARTING MONDAY NIGHT WITH LOWS  
STAYING ABOVE 80 DEGREES IN THE PHOENIX AREA TO ONLY DOWN IN THE  
MID 70S FOR RURAL DESERT LOCATIONS.  
 
 
   
LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/  
 
THE MAIN FORECAST CONCERN FOR THE REST OF THE COMING WEEK IS THE  
POTENTIAL FOR MAJOR HEATRISK TO DEVELOP ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE  
AREA AS EARLY AS WEDNESDAY AND REMAINING A POSSIBILITY THROUGH  
FRIDAY. GUIDANCE IS IN GOOD AGREEMENT SHOWING THE SUBTROPICAL  
HIGH STRENGTHENING INTO WEDNESDAY, LIKELY REACHING PEAK H5 HEIGHTS  
OF 595-597DM LATE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. ADDITIONAL GULF MOISTURE  
SURGES ARE ALSO EXPECTED MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY NIGHT  
INCREASING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ENOUGH TO POTENTIALLY BRING SOME  
ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS STARTING TUESDAY ACROSS  
SOUTHWEST ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. THE HIGHEST POPS ARE  
BETWEEN 10-15% ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN AREAS OF SOUTHWEST  
ARIZONA, WHILE CHANCES SHOULD REMAIN WELL BELOW 10% ACROSS SOUTH-  
CENTRAL ARIZONA DUE TO THE STRONGER SUBSIDENCE CLOSER TO THE HIGH  
CENTER.  
 
MODELS ARE SOMEWHAT TRENDING AWAY FROM EVEN HIGHER HEIGHTS THAT  
LOOKED POSSIBLE A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO, BUT THEY ARE STILL RIGHT  
NEAR THE THRESHOLD OF POTENTIALLY NEEDING EXTREME HEAT HEADLINES.  
THE LATEST NBM STILL SHOWS SOME VERY LOCALIZED MAJOR HEATRISK  
DEVELOPING BY WEDNESDAY BEFORE REACHING ITS PEAK COVERAGE OF  
ROUGHLY 20-30% OF THE LOWER DESERTS ON THURSDAY. FORECAST HIGHS  
ARE ALSO 1-2 DEGREES LOWER THAN PREVIOUSLY ADVERTISED WITH PEAK  
READINGS OF 111-114 DEGREES ON THURSDAY. DUE TO THE REMAINING  
UNCERTAINTY IN THE STRENGTH OF THE RIDGE, WE WILL HOLD OFF FOR NOW  
ON ANY EXTREME HEAT WATCHES. MODELS ARE ALSO NOW TRENDING TOWARD  
A QUICKER DECLINE IN HEIGHTS LATER THIS WEEK, STARTING AS EARLY AS  
WEDNESDAY NIGHT. HEIGHTS ARE FAVORED TO SLOWLY DECREASE ON  
THURSDAY AND LIKELY CONTINUING THROUGH NEXT WEEKEND AS ANOTHER  
TROUGH IS FORECAST TO PASS BY TO OUR NORTH. DAYTIME HIGHS SHOULD  
FALL BELOW 110 DEGREES BY SATURDAY AND POTENTIALLY GO BACK INTO  
THE NORMAL RANGE BY NEXT SUNDAY. MOISTURE LEVELS ARE ALSO EXPECTED  
TO BEGIN TO DROP OFF STARTING THURSDAY WITH ANY ISOLATED  
CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL DISAPPEARING BY FRIDAY.  
 
 
   
AVIATION  
UPDATED AT 0450Z.  
 
SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA INCLUDING KPHX, KIWA, KSDL, AND KDVT:  
NO AVIATION WEATHER CONCERNS UNDER SOME PASSING HIGH CIRRUS CLOUD  
DECKS CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE TAF PERIOD. THE OVERALL WIND  
PATTERN WILL FAVOR THE TYPICAL DIURNAL TENDENCIES WITH OVERALL  
SPEEDS AOB 10 KTS. SOME OCCASIONAL AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING GUSTS  
IN THE MID TO UPPER TEENS WILL BE POSSIBLE MONDAY.  
 
SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA/SOUTHWEST ARIZONA INCLUDING KIPL AND KBLH:  
NO MAJOR AVIATION WEATHER CONCERNS UNDER SOME PASSING HIGH CIRRUS  
CLOUD DECKS CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE TAF PERIOD. AT KIPL,  
WINDS OUT OF THE WEST WILL PREVAIL INTO THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD  
BEFORE SHIFTING OUT OF THE SOUTHEAST MONDAY MORNING. AT KBLH,  
WINDS WILL GENERALLY FLUCTUATE OUT OF THE SOUTH-SOUTHEAST TO  
SOUTHWEST. OVERALL WIND SPEEDS WILL REMAIN AOB 12 KTS WITH SOME  
MINOR AFTERNOON GUSTINESS AT KBLH.  
 
 
   
FIRE WEATHER  
 
NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND VERY DRY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE  
THROUGH MONDAY WITH FAIRLY LIGHT WINDS. MINRHS WILL BE IN THE  
SINGLE DIGITS EACH DAY, WHILE OVERNIGHT RECOVERIES WILL BE POOR,  
RANGING BETWEEN 15-35%. SOME AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING UPSLOPE  
BREEZINESS WILL BE COMMON, BUT GUSTS WILL MOSTLY STAY BELOW 20  
MPH. EVEN WITH THE LIGHT BREEZES, THE VERY LOW RHS SHOULD STILL  
LEAD TO ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS DURING THE LATTER HALF OF  
THE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING HOURS. GOING INTO THE MIDDLE PART OF  
THE WEEK, MOISTURE WILL IMPROVE RAISING MINRHS TO BETWEEN 10-15%  
BY WEDNESDAY, BUT TEMPERATURES WILL ALSO WARM TO ABOVE NORMAL.  
DAYTIME BREEZINESS SHOULD ALSO INCREASE WITH MORE GUSTS REACHING  
THE 20-25 MPH RANGE.  
 
 
   
PSR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES  
 
AZ...EXTREME HEAT WATCH FROM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY  
EVENING FOR AZZ560.  
 
CA...NONE.  
 
 
 
 
SHORT TERM...WHITTOCK  
LONG TERM...KUHLMAN  
AVIATION...LOJERO  
FIRE WEATHER...KUHLMAN  
CLICK HERE TO GO TO PREVIOUS BULLETINS.
The Nexlab AZ Page
The Nexlab CA Page
Main Text Page