Right now in Tempe, the air is about 110°F, but the model estimates the asphalt under your dog's paws is closer to 160°F — a gap of roughly 50°F, because clear skies are pouring full sun onto every dark surface. That reading puts Tempe in the danger range, where pavement can scald paw pads in under a minute. Air temperature alone would have told you none of this — the pavement, not the forecast, is what your dog actually stands on.
Across the 12 hours left today, the pavement in Tempe is projected to top out near 163°F around 1 PM, when the air will be about 112°F — a 51°F gap between the forecast your weather app shows and the surface your dog walks on. The surface is holding roughly flat over the next three hours, so there is no meaningfully cooler hour coming soon — choose shade and grass rather than waiting it out.
In an average August, Tempe sees highs around 105°F and overnight lows near 83°F. That is genuinely dangerous territory for daytime walks: at those highs, midday asphalt in full sun can push well past 130°F, hot enough to blister a paw pad in seconds. As a seasonal rule of thumb, the safest windows are before about 8:00 AM and after about 7:00 PM.
Tempe loses its all-day safe window in 7 months of the year — April through October — and August is one of them. The year peaks in July at an average high of 107°F against 65°F in January, a 42°F swing that decides how much of the day belongs to your dog.
Tempe sits about 5 miles from Mesa, close enough that the two usually run within a degree or two of each other — if your walk crosses between them, either page answers the question. Street-level conditions still differ more than city-level ones do: a shaded side street and an open parking lot half a block apart can be twenty degrees apart underfoot.
Whatever the number says, confirm it with your hand: press the back of it flat on the pavement for seven seconds. If you can't hold it there, neither can your dog. On a day reading this warm in Tempe, flat-faced breeds like pugs and bulldogs, plus seniors and young puppies with thinner pads, should sit out the heat entirely — subtract about 10°F from any safe threshold for them. If you must cross hot ground, protective booties or a quick coat of paw wax are the only real barrier between paw pads and the asphalt.