Tucsonans could experience a high of 113 degrees Sunday, which would shatter the 2005 mark. Monsoon relief isn’t expected before next week.

 Josh Galemore / Arizona Daily Star

Tucson could see record heat this weekend, with a scorching 113 degrees expected Sunday.

The local forecast predicts temperatures of 111 degrees Saturday, 113 degrees Sunday and 110 degrees Monday.

Those are potentially record-breaking highs, said Emily Carpenter, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Tucson.

The record high temperature for Saturday is 111 degrees, recorded in 1958, she said. Sunday and Monday’s record highs are 110 degrees, in 2005 and 1994 respectively.

The highest temperature Tucson has recorded in July: 114 degrees on July 4, 1989, and July 28, 1995, Carpenter said.

Carpenter said monsoon storms might come later in July, after a change in wind direction expected in Southern Arizona, possibly next week.

“What we’re really waiting for is a change in wind direction, which we are seeing later in the (seven-day) forecast, and that will hopefully bring some more moisture into the state and allow for us to have some wetter conditions,” Carpenter said. “But for the time being, we’re not really seeing any moisture that would bring a daily chance of showers or thunderstorms into the Tucson area specifically.”

Even with the prospect of moisture coming in over the next few days, there’s a high-pressure system over Tucson that’s “like a lid,” keeping storms from developing, said Mike Leuthold, manager of the regional weather modeling program.

“The moisture comes and goes, but thunderstorms don’t develop, and that’s because the high pressure is too close to us,” Leuthold said.

Last year, storms started in Tucson on July 13, rather than the more typical start around Independence Day.

The latest start of monsoon storms on record in Tucson is July 25, 1987, according to National Weather Service data. The earliest start was June 17, 2000.

The monsoon season officially began June 15.

Tucson is not alone in its misery.

The entire Lower 48 states and Alaska are likely to be warmer than normal for the last two weeks of July, usually the hottest time of year, The Associated Press reported, citing the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center.

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