Summer starts with a scorcher, power outages

EAST VALLEY, SCOTTSDALE, CALIFORNIA - Summer arrived with a bang in the East Valley as high temperatures tied a 40-year record and some residents went without power during the afternoonÂ’s hottest hours.

Spring officially ended at 4:59 p.m. June 20 while the East Valley was under an excessive heat warning. Earlier in the day, temperatures peaked at 115 degrees.

The high tied a record set in 1968, according to the National Weather Service in Phoenix.

The heat was especially brutal for more than 1,000 Tempe and Mesa residents who lost power during the afternoon for more than an hour, said Salt River Project officials.

Some businesses and homes in the area from Alma School Road and McClintock Road to Elliot Road and Baseline Road had power cut out between 1 and 2 p.m. By late in the day, power officials had not yet determined the cause.

Bartender Truman Wood at restaurant Fibber McGeeÂ’s in Chandler said the power outage slowed their business. Employees were still trying to make up for lost work at about 3 p.m.

“People started getting hot and wanting to leave,” Wood said, “We had to do everything manually. It was like the 1920s again.”

Arizona Public Service Company reported 28 customers also lost power after a transformer malfunctioned in Tempe, according to spokesman Steven Gotfried.

NelloÂ’s Pizza manager Ryan Schollmeyer said that his business was not affected, but he was eating lunch at another restaurant east of NelloÂ’s, located near Alma School Road and Guadalupe Road, when the power shut down.

The heat reached 112 degrees June 22. The temperature June 23 dropped a degree below 110 degrees for the first time in nine days, with continued cooling throughout most of the week.

The following two days should fall below the 110 degree mark, hitting 108 and 107, according to the weather service.