Is about a minute of 100-degree heat enough to "break the ice on the Santa Cruz," as we say in the Old Pueblo?
Officially, yes.
Tucson hit 100 degrees for the first time this year at 3:28 p.m. Monday at the airport, where official weather stats are recorded.
"It was pretty brief," says National Weather Service meteorologist Alex Edwards. "A hundred for about a minute."
"It was at 98-99, bouncing around all afternoon," but finally added the third digit for that minute or so.
It's only the second time since Tucson's official weather records began in 1895 that the first hundred-degree day came on a Memorial Day, the weather service says. The first was on May 30, 1977.
The earliest Tucson has hit 100 since 1895 was April 19, 1989, while the latest was June 22, 1905.
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For the 1991-2020 period, the normal average first triple-digit appearance was May 18.
For the historical 1895-2023 period, it has been May 24, three days earlier than the May 27th start of the 2024 season.
Get ready for many more 100-degree days, of course, "as the normal high temperatures reach and stay in the triple digits from early June through end of July," the weather service notes.
See what today's weather forecast looks like in Tucson.
