Anchorage, Alaska broke a temperature record after hitting 32.2 C

Record heat wave hitting Alaska Climate scientist Brian Brettschneider with the University of Fairbanks Alaska talks about the heat wave facing the state.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska's largest city and two other state locations reached record high temperatures on Independence Day.

The National Weather Service says Anchorage on Thursday afternoon reached 90 degrees (32.22 Celsius).

Meteorologist Bob Clay says the previous record for Anchorage was 85 degrees (29.44 Celsius) on June 14, 1969.

Kenai and King Salmon also reached new high temperatures of 89 degrees (31.67 Celsius). Palmer matched its record high at 88 degrees.

Clay says a high pressure ridge over much of south-central Alaska is strengthening and responsible for the record temperatures.

Rick Thoman of the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy says the high temperatures are both a weather story and a climate story as extreme weather events become much more likely in a warming world.