There have been 41 heat-related deaths in Pima County through July, updated figures from the medical examiner show.
The grim tally rises to 64 when migrants who have died crossing the border are included.
The rise in confirmed heat-related deaths comes as Pima County endured the hottest July on record and is under an excessive heat warning through the weekend.
Overall, 16 Pima County residents have died due to excessive heat since May. Thirteen of those deaths occurred in July and nine occurred indoors, the data shows.
The final number of heat-related fatalities is expected to grow for July, said Dr. Greg Hess, the county’s chief medical examiner.
“That won’t be all of July,” Hess said Friday. “Were we busy last summer? Yes. Were we tracking heat the way we are this summer? No.”
Hess was referencing the county’s newly-updated data dashboard that tracks heat-caused, heat-related and heat-contributed deaths.
Heat-caused deaths are those where heat is the primary factor. Heat-related deaths refer to those where environmental factors are either the primary cause, or a significant contributing factor to a person’s death. And those labeled as heat-contributed deaths mean heat was a factor, but not necessarily the main one.
Of the 41 heat-linked death cases in Pima County, there was a nearly identical split of deaths occurring indoors versus outdoors. Men accounted for about 66 percent of the deaths and a majority were people at least 60 years old.
“Heat impacts different demographics of people more significantly,” Hess said. “Older people are more vulnerable to effects of the heat because they don’t have as robust of physiological responses to keep their bodies cool.”
“[The elderly] seem to be more likely to either not have air conditioning, have air conditioning that’s broken, or turn off their AC for whatever reason . . . we find these people in their residences and their air conditioning is broken or it’s not on.”
In 2022, Pima County recorded 28 heat-caused deaths. As of Aug. 2, the county’s figure is at 16.
“Maybe we’re on track or a little bit ahead, but we’re not ‘rocketing’ ahead,” said Hess. “It didn’t really get hot until July and it’s going to be hot again this weekend and we’re in August. “We don’t know how long it’s going to stay hot for, but I would expect that these heat-related deaths would drop off pretty quickly once the major heat waves end.”
To date, Maricopa County says 39 heat-linked deaths have been confirmed through July 29.
While Pima County is reporting more cases than Maricopa County at this point, Hess said that is due to how quickly cases are processed here. Pima County will most likely have “about a third” of the deaths that Maricopa County when the final count is made, he said.
Both Pima County and Maricopa County have refrigerated body trailers on standby in the event morgues reach capacity, the Associated Press reported this week..
The average temperature in the Tucson metro area in July was 94.3 degrees, nearly three degrees more than the previous record of 91.5 degrees set in July 2020, according to a Twitter post by National Weather Service Tucson. Last month’s average temperature was 4 degrees above normal for the month of July, according to the weather service.
Several weather records were broken last month. Phoenix has a 31-day streak of above-110-degree temperatures. Tucson had a record 48 straight days of over 100-degree-highs, spanning from June 16 to Aug. 2.
While a recent string of monsoon storms in Pima County provided some relief from the heat, the weather service issued an excessive heat warning for the majority of south and southwest Arizona through the weekend.
Afternoon temperatures ranging from 104 degrees to 113 degrees will be possible throughout the region.
Temperatures here are expected to reach 110 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, according to National Weather Service Tucson.
Rain and thunderstorm chances are expected to be minimal through the weekend. However, chances of storms will slightly increase at the beginning of next week.
