Arizona desert town breaks record for hottest March temperature in US history

Martinez Lake, about 145 miles west of Phoenix, reached 110F (43.3C) on Thursday amid scorching south-west heat Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox A small community in the Arizona desert has broken a record for the highest March temperature ever recorded in the US, as the south-west bakes in a blistering late-winter heatwave. The astonishing temperature was recorded just outside Martinez Lake, Arizona, which reached 110F (43.3C) on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). The community is about 145 miles (233km) west of Phoenix and sits on the Arizona-California border, in the Yuma desert. The previous record of 108F (42.2C) had been set in Rio Grande City, Texas, in 1954 and was tied on Wednesday by the tiny desert community of North Shore, California. By Thursday, several more California locations had hit 108F. Among them were Cathedral City, near the desert destination of Palm Springs, and the town of Thermal, north-east of San Diego. The triple-digit temperatures came on the last day of winter. Thermal was forecast to hit 110F (43.3C) on Friday and could tie the record. “For some perspective, the average first 105F da