The Southwest Bakes With More Heat on the Way

“I’m dying — I have stage three kidney disease, so I need water more than you,” Mr. Whittaker said.

Mateo Calderón, 59, originally from San Luis Potosí, Mexico, is spending his second summer in Tucson. He pays $200 dollars a month to park in someone’s backyard. He sleeps in his car, or, when it’s too hot, on a row of couch cushions on the ground.

He can go into the house to shower, store food and fill up with water. Mr. Calderón explained how important it is to drink water.

“I used to go to cooling centers, last year, but they’re far,” he said. Now, he chases shade during the day, and just tries to stay hydrated.

Typically, Arizona faces its hottest temperatures in June and July, Gabriel Lojero, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Phoenix, said on Sunday, so the timing of this heat is not unusual. But what is a cause for concern, he said, is the longevity of the extreme heat.

So far, the Weather Service has recorded nine consecutive days of temperatures above 110 degrees in Arizona, Mr. Lojero said, and the longest stretch the state has seen of consecutive days over 110 degrees was 18, in 1974.

“Looking at the current forecasts that we have, we’re forecasting temperatures at least 110 or above for at least the next seven to eight days and potentially longer,” Mr. Lojero said, adding that this streak could potentially break the 18-day record.

Isaac Smith, another meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Arizona, said that “we’re going to be looking at these very hot temperatures continuing through the next week.” The Weather Service, he added, expects highs to continue to remain above 110 degrees each day. “That’s pretty significant for us,” Mr. Smith said. “Even for Phoenix standards.”