By several measures, 2023 was one of the worst years for natural disasters in recent U.S. history. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported 28 separate climate-related events that resulted in at least one billion dollars in damage, by far the most of any year since record keeping began in 1980. Collectively, these major droughts, hurricanes, floods, severe storms, and wildfires caused over $92.8 billion in damage and killed a reported 492 people.
Notably, these figures do not include the devastating toll taken by one of the deadliest weather events in recent U.S. history – the heat wave that gripped Maricopa County, Arizona for much of last summer.
Home to over 4.4 million people, Maricopa County is the fourth largest county in the United States. It is also one of the hottest. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Maricopa County has an average of nearly 16 heatwave events every year, more than any of the other 3,100 U.S. counties.
While Maricopa County residents are accustomed to high temperatures, last summer’s heatwave was anything but typical. Between mid-June and mid-August 2023, temperatures topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit for 66 consecutive days in the city of Phoenix, peaking at 119 degrees for three of those days. The event marked the city’s longest streak of triple-digit daily highs in decades.