• Phoenix is the fifth-largest U.S. city, with a population of 1.4 million.
• More than half of the city's residents are between 18 and 54 years of age, which is younger than the national average.
• The Phoenix metro area has about 3.3 million residents and covers 2,000 square miles.
• Maricopa County covers 9,127 square miles.
• Phoenix's elevation is 1,117 feet.
• Phoenix has an average annual rainfall of 7.66 inches, an average annual high temperature of 85 degrees and, on average, more than 325 sunny days per year.
• The Phoenix area hosted the NFL's Super Bowl XXX (in Tempe), Jan. 28, 1996, and will host Super Bowl XLII (in Glendale) in 2008.
• Greater Phoenix is home to more than 200 golf courses.
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• Phoenix is home to the world's largest municipal park. South Mountain Park covers more than 20,000 acres. The area has more than 1,700 acres of traditional park land.
• There are six lakes within a 75-minute drive of Phoenix.
— Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau
• May 13 — the average day the temperature first reaches 100 degrees each year.
• Sept. 28 — the average day the temperature last reaches 100 degrees each year.
• May 8, 1989 — the earliest date the temperature first reached at least 110 degrees.
• June 20 — the average day the temperature first reaches at least 110 degrees each year.
• 89 — the average number of days during which the temperature reaches at least 100 degrees in a year.
• 143 in 1989 — the greatest number of days during which the temperature reached at least 100 degrees in a year.
• 18 in 1974 — the greatest number of consecutive days that the temperature reached at least 110 degrees.
• 122 on June 26, 1990 — highest temperature recorded in Phoenix.
• 117 on June 26, 1990 — highest temperature recorded in Tucson.
— National Weather Service
Head west — to the Western deserts, says John Gluek, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Tucson.
"Pretty much any place along the river is going to be hot," he said, referring to the Colorado, which flows through Mohave, La Paz and Yuma counties.
A Google search for "hottest city in Arizona" gave us Bullhead City.
According to Wikipedia, Bullhead City is one of the nation's "hottest cities during the summer, with an average July high of 118 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit."
Bullhead City averages a high of 110 degrees in the summer (June through August), Gluek said, while Phoenix averages about 104 degrees and Tucson averages closer to 100 degrees.
– Inger Sandal