It has been hotter than blazes here in the Phoenix Metro area this summer. While perusing the Arizona Air Quality webcam image this past week, I came across this:
It was 112 degrees (five degrees cooler than it was the day before), and in the background, you can see some black smoke rising. The first thought that came to mind is that the City of Mesa has spontaneously combusted due to the excessive heat we have been having.
A nice storm with some cooling rain came in late last night, which brought the temperature down. Here's how things are looking at the moment (where did the mountains go?):