An exceptional October heat wave is shattering temperature records and accelerating drought conditions throughout the Southwest. Phoenix broke another temperature record Wednesday, the city’s 16th consecutive day with a new record. The hot weather is causing more evaporation than normal across the desert, which the U.S. Drought Monitor noted in its weekly update. … Severe drought or worse plagued 9.9% of the West last week but expanded to 14.6% this week’s update. Areas of severe drought recently expanded into California’s Mojave Desert for the first time since April 2023. Much of the severe drought is in the Colorado River Basin, which feeds Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States.

Other weather and heat articles:

• San Francisco Chronicle: Chances for La Niña have shifted. Here’s what it means for California
• KQED: San José just had its hottest week ever, ‘A harbinger of things to come’
• Mercury News: Why doesn’t California get hurricanes?
• Arizona Republic: Can Arizona have hurricanes? As Florida weathers Hurricane Milton, here’s what to know