Two thousand sixteen was a very hot year for Earth. In fact, it was the hottest year on record for the third year in a row. That’s according to scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Arizona also experienced hot temperatures.

While that report looked at the entire year, Paul Iniguef with the Weather Service in Phoenix, is talking about our summer. He says last June, July and August was the seventh warmest on record in Phoenix.

"Not the worst, but it’s quite high. And if we look at all the years that are in the top ten, the vast majority of them have come in the most recent 10 to 20 years," he said.

Iniguef says it was the fourth-warmest summer for the state. And he says we can expect this summer to be just as hot.

"Our trends are so strong in the southwest and in the Phoenix area that we can say with very high confidence it’s going to be above average this summer and that’s looking at a whole," he said.

Consider this our new normal. Iniguef says we can expect above average summer temperatures for the foreseeable future.