Phoenix’s streak of over 100-degree temperatures reaches 100th day
(PHOENIX) — Phoenix reached a sweltering milestone Tuesday, with Arizona’s capital city logging its 100th straight day of over 100-degree weather.
The National Weather Service (NWS) Phoenix took to X to share the record-breaking news, warning that the dangerously high temperatures are forecast to continue.
“Phoenix has just reached this mark today and the streak is expected to continue, with no end currently in sight,” NWS Phoenix wrote, adding, “This is by far the longest streak on record.”
The previous record was 76 straight days set in 1993, according to the agency.
Triple-digit temperatures began in Phoenix on May 27, when the city experienced the first 102-degree F day of the streak, and temperatures have stayed consistently high or higher ever since.
The measurements are taken at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, according to the agency.
Ariane Middel, a professor at Arizona State University’s Urban Climate Research Center, called the milestone “a historic and alarming benchmark in our ongoing struggle with extreme heat.”
“The prolonged heat exacerbates health risks, especially for vulnerable populations,” Middel said.
Heat-related illnesses, including heat exhaustion and heatstroke, occur when a person’s body temperature rises faster than the body can cool itself, and can damage the brain and other vital organs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Early symptoms can include dizziness, headaches, nausea, weakness and fatigue, according to the agency.
The public health agency further notes that older adults, the very young and people with chronic diseases and mental illnesses are at the highest risk of heat illnesses.
“This record-breaking heat in Phoenix highlights the urgent need for national awareness of extreme heat. The prolonged exposure to such high temperatures is not just a local issue here in Phoenix but part of broader climate trends that could affect other regions,” she added.
Phoenix is poised to set another extreme heat record the next time the thermostat reaches 110 degrees, which could come later this week, according to officials.
In 2023, Phoenix set the previous record of 54 days with temperatures at or above 110 degrees — and on Friday, the city matched that mark.
Earlier Tuesday, NWS Phoenix shared an “Excessive Heat Warning” for the region as temperatures are expected to reach 10 degrees above normal in the city and across much of the southwest from Wednesday through Friday.
Temperatures could approach 100 degrees in Los Angeles, California and close to 114 in Phoenix.
“Remember to practice smart heat safety by staying hydrated and limiting your time outdoors,” the agency cautioned.
This comes as more than 35 million Americans in eight states are on heat and wildfire alerts from California to North Dakota.
Extreme heat has been a reality this summer for the U.S. and worldwide.
July 2024 was the hottest month ever recorded since global records began in 1850, according to the Global Climate Report from the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
It was also the 14th consecutive month in which the temperature record was broken, according to the report.
(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump is once again brushing aside traditional debate preparations as his first match against Vice President Kamala Harris approaches, reverting to a similar strategy of policy meetings with advisers and a series of interviews and town halls.
In the week leading up to the Sept. 10 ABC News debate, Trump was on campaign trail for a town hall in Pennsylvania, gave an economic address in New York and will hold a rally in Wisconsin this weekend. His campaign said the former president sees talking to voters is a form of debate prep, too.
“Our debate and prep is every day. It’s called Donald Trump talking to voters,” one Trump campaign adviser said.
Trump campaign senior adviser Brian Hughes told ABC News that because Trump gives “dozens of unscripted interviews and can stand with reporters unscripted for hours at a time, he doesn’t need staff cheat codes to go into a debate.”
“He is reviewing policy with advisers,” Hughes said, adding that Trump is “always prepared to discuss his successful time as president.”
During a town hall event Wednesday with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump said he was “gonna let [Harris] talk” in the debate.
“When I had [President Joe] Biden, you and I had the same discussion. And I let him talk. I’m gonna let her talk,” Trump told Hannity when asked how he will respond to Harris when she tries to get under his skin.
In the last three weeks, Trump has only done two events that the campaign has described as rallies out of the nearly dozen campaign stops he has had — a break in the campaign’s traditional style.
The campaign instead has been persistent with scheduling more smaller-scale, policy-focused speeches and participating in moderated discussion panels with allies. During these events, Trump has worked to fine-tune his attacks on Harris, though, at times, he often struggled to stay on topic.
Trump and his campaign have long strayed from mock-style debates, and say that despite having a different challenger, his method remains the same. Rather, in between campaign stops, Trump and his campaign have been focusing on nailing down several different policy areas, a similar strategy to how he approached the June debate against Biden.
Trump had limited outbursts and personal attacks on the debate stage against Biden in June, and his campaign said he will focus on a similar strategy against Harris. Still, Trump has not held back on the trail, lobbing personal attacks at Harris.
The campaign has also tapped former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who recently endorsed Trump, for debate preparations. Campaign advisers took note of Gabbard’s debate performance against Harris and Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary, and made headlines at the time for taking aim at Harris’ record as a prosecutor.
In public comments over the weekend, Gabbard offered insight into the types of tactics she would advise Trump about ahead of next week’s debate, warning that Harris should not be “underestimated.” The former president has previously said he thinks debating Harris will be “easier” than Biden.
“I think Kamala Harris has a lot of experience. She’s not to be underestimated. President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have very different records,” Gabbard said.
She argued that Trump should focus on Harris’ flip-flops, which “will be an opportunity for voters to look at and compare and contrast those records.”
“It really is just sharing the experience that I have with her on that debate stage in 2020 and frankly, helping to point out some ways that Kamala Harris has already shown that she is trying to move away from her record, move away from her positions, and how that contradicts the positions and statements that she is making now that she is the Democratic nominee,” Gabbard said.
Trump also recently sat down for a town hall with Gabbard in Wisconsin, answering questions from voters on issues such as the economy, immigration and national security.
As the Trump campaign tries to focus on Harris’ record, another attack anticipated on the debate stage is the distinction that Harris is currently serving in the White House and can make policy decisions now.
“That’s one of the points that I will make all the time. Do it. You can do it right now,” Trump claimed in an interview with the Daily Mail last month.
The ABC News debate will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 9 p.m ET. A prime-time pre-debate special will air at 8 p.m. ET.
(AUBURNDALE, Fla.) — A Florida teenager has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of his mother, less than two years after he was arrested for fatally shooting his father but never charged, authorities said.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a Wednesday press briefing that the teen had previously allegedly threatened to kill his mother before Sunday’s “cold-blooded murder.”
The stabbing occurred after the teen, 17-year-old Collin Griffith, and his mother, 39-year-old Catherine Griffith, were seen having an altercation outside a mobile home in Auburndale, according to Judd.
“There were witnesses outside the mobile home that actually saw Collin drag his mother into the house by the hair on her head,” the sheriff said.
Griffith called 911 Sunday evening to report that his mother “fell on a knife” and was bleeding from the neck, Judd said. The teen reportedly said his mother had lunged at him with the knife when she fell on it during a prolonged fight inside the home, according to Judd.
The home belongs to the teen’s grandmother, who was not there at the time of the incident, Judd said.
When deputies arrived, the teen met them outside and was “calm, cool, collected – not upset,” Judd said. Griffith reportedly told them, “I know my rights, I want an attorney,” according to Judd.
A bloody kitchen knife with an 8-inch blade was found inside the home, the sheriff said.
During an autopsy conducted on Monday, the medical examiner determined that Catherine Griffith died from a deep knife wound to the neck that was inconsistent with an accidental injury, according to Judd.
“The medical examiner said it is not reasonable or plausible that she died the way that [her son] said she did,” Judd said.
Collin Griffith is in custody and has been charged with first-degree murder, Judd said, adding that they have asked the state attorney’s office to prosecute the teen as an adult.
The State Attorney’s Office 10th Judicial Circuit, which includes Polk County, told ABC News on Thursday they have no comment on the case at this time.
It is unknown if Griffith has an attorney. ABC News’ attempts to reach his grandmother were unsuccessful.
Judd said as investigators started to “peel back the layer of this onion,” the teen’s family told investigators that he had previously been physically or verbally confrontational with his mother.
Sheriff’s office reports out of Charlotte County in Florida, where Collin Griffith and his mother lived, showed that he had allegedly threatened to kill her in statements purportedly made in September 2023 and, most recently, in February, according to the charging affidavit for his mother’s murder.
Collin Griffith was also arrested by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office for domestic violence battery against his mother in November 2023, according to Judd.
“She was disciplining him and took his video game privileges away, so he beat up his mother,” Judd said. “He pushed her to the ground and he stomped on her.”
Days before the stabbing, Collin Griffith and his mother had an argument about chores and he went to his grandmother’s home, Judd said. Catherine Griffith went to the grandmother’s home on Sunday to bring him back to hers, and she and her son were seen arguing outside of the grandmother’s home around 4:30 p.m., fewer than two hours before the teen called 911 to report the stabbing incident, Judd said.
While investigating the stabbing, the sheriff’s office learned that authorities in Oklahoma also had arrested the teen last year in connection with the fatal shooting of his father, Charles Griffith, at their home in Lincoln County.
Collin Griffith told authorities that he shot his father in self-defense on Feb. 14, 2023, during an argument that turned physical, according to Adam Panter, the district attorney for Oklahoma’s 23rd District, which includes Lincoln County.
During a 911 call, the teen said he grabbed a rifle and shot his father twice after his father chased him into a bedroom while armed with a knife, according to the district attorney.
“At the start of his police interview, he requested an attorney and the interview was terminated, so the only version of events that we were able to obtain was what Collin said on the 911 call, which was consistent with the evidence we found at the scene,” Panter said in a statement to ABC News.
State police investigated forensic and digital evidence and no charges were ever filed against the teen in the case, Panter said.
“Ultimately, after evaluating all of the evidence and possible theories, it was determined that we could not rule out self-defense and as a result, declined to file any formal charges,” Panter said.
Both Panter and Judd said any relevant information obtained in the investigation into the mother’s death will be considered in connection with the shooting of the teen’s father.
“If any new evidence is obtained that is both relevant and credible to our investigation into the death of Collin Griffith’s father, we will certainly re-evaluate the case and make a new determination if necessary,” Panter told ABC News.
Following the Oklahoma shooting of his father, Collin Griffith came to Charlotte County in Florida in March 2023 to live with his mother, Judd said.
He was “being intensely watched” by the county’s sheriff’s office prior to the stabbing, Judd said. Griffith had been placed on active juvenile probation following his arrest in November 2023 for battery domestic violence in connection to his physical attack on his mother, according to an affidavit.
A spokesperson for the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office told ABC News that its juvenile unit had been working with the teen and his family “in various ways to include connecting them with available resources.”
“I cannot expand any further on that as I am not privy to those interactions, and because he is a minor,” the spokesperson said.
The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) had also been in contact with the family, including after the teen ran away from home in February following an argument with his mother, according to Judd.
A spokesperson for DCF, which investigates allegations of abuse, neglect or abandonment, said information regarding its investigations is confidential, per state law.
Judd said they are looking into Collin Griffith’s history and interactions with other agencies in Florida and Oklahoma as they investigate the case.
“My question is, was there anything else that could have been done?” he said
He noted that the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office did a “remarkable job keeping up” with Collin Griffith.
In addition to murder, Collin Griffith has been charged with kidnapping and violation of a no-contact order, the sheriff’s office said. The charges stem from his juvenile probation in Charlotte County for battery domestic violence, with conditions including that he have no contact with his mother, according to the affidavit.
(VICKSBURG, Miss.) — Seven Mexican nationals killed in a Mississippi bus crash over the weekend were identified Monday, including a 16-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother, authorities said.
The names were released to ABC News by Warren County Coroner Doug L. Huskey a day after the National Transportation Safety Board announced that the preliminary investigation showed a tire failure caused the motor coach to run off the road and overturn.
Huskey identified those killed in the crash as 8-year-old Kain Gutierrez and his 16-year-old sister, Perla Gutierrez. Another 16-year-old girl who died was identified as Angelica Palomino, according to Huskey.
Also killed were Miguel Ariaga, 61; Elia Guzman, 63; and Victor Aviles Garcia, 32, and his 30-year-old brother, Moises Aviles Garcia, according to Huskey.
Huskey said that due to a language barrier, Kain Gutierrez was initially identified as 6 years old.
The crash happened early Saturday, east of Vicksburg, and left 37 other people injured, according to the highway patrol.
The 2018 Volvo commercial passenger bus, traveling from Atlanta to Dallas, was driving westbound on Interstate 20 when it drove off the road Saturday just before 1 a.m. local time, according to the highway patrol.
Six people were pronounced dead at the scene and one person died at Merit Heath Hospital in Vicksburg, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol. The co-driver was not transported to a hospital, authorities said.
The Mexican consulate said in its statement that it has contacted a legal firm to help obtain detailed information about the crash.