Phoenix sets rainfall records ... WHAT??? (Scottsdale, Tempe: tornadoes, rated, areas)

[Valley Native]

Unbelievable, but true. On Friday (June 5th), a late Pacific storm system moved in, and was enhanced by tropical moisture from a weakening tropical cyclone near Baja, CA. The combination of the two brought thundershowers to the Phoenix area, which is so rare for this time of year that it had never previously rained on June 5th until this year! Sky Harbor officially recorded 0.16 inch, but many other Valley locations reported much higher amounts. And with more rain in the forecast for the middle of this week, this June could go in the record books for being one of the wettest on record (especially considering that our average June rainfall is just 0.02 inch for the entire month).

May also set some rainfall records. On May 15th, Sky Harbor officially recorded 0.93 inch of rain, which not only was a record for the date, but a record for the month. Even though it only rained twice during the whole month, it turned out to be the second wettest May on record with a total rainfall amount of 1.17 inches. This is impressive considering that May receives just 0.11 inch on average. The weather we have been having lately is quite unusual, but a welcome change considering this is normally a very dry time of year. The good news is that it should help put a damper on the fire season.

[magnum0417]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Unbelievable, but true. On Friday (June 5th), a late Pacific storm system moved in, and was enhanced by tropical moisture from a weakening tropical cyclone near Baja, CA. The combination of the two brought thundershowers to the Phoenix area, which is so rare for this time of year that it had never previously rained on June 5th until this year! Sky Harbor officially recorded 0.16 inch, but many other Valley locations reported much higher amounts. And with more rain in the forecast for the middle of this week, this June could go in the record books for being one of the wettest on record (especially considering that our average June rainfall is just 0.02 inch for the entire month).

May also set some rainfall records. On May 15th, Sky Harbor officially recorded 0.93 inch of rain, which not only was a record for the date, but a record for the month. Even though it only rained twice during the whole month, it turned out to be the second wettest May on record with a total rainfall amount of 1.17 inches. This is impressive considering that May receives just 0.11 inch on average. The weather we have been having lately is quite unusual, but a welcome change considering this is normally a very dry time of year. The good news is that it should help put a damper on the fire season.

Although I have been rained or even snowed out from heading up to Valle these past 5 weeks...it is a welcome change from the normal redundancy of May and June Phoenix weather. I love monsoons and hopefully it won't be nonsoon season in areas like me in Tempe than miss a lot of the rain thanks to the urban heat island within Loop 202. AJ and Queen Creek get much more action than Tempe and Sky Harbor for obvious reasons. I hate snow but miss active weather and will be looking forward to doing some more stormchasing.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by magnum0417

Although I have been rained or even snowed out from heading up to Valle these past 5 weeks...it is a welcome change from the normal redundancy of May and June Phoenix weather. I love monsoons and hopefully it won't be nonsoon season in areas like me in Tempe than miss a lot of the rain thanks to the urban heat island within Loop 202. AJ and Queen Creek get much more action than Tempe and Sky Harbor for obvious reasons. I hate snow but miss active weather and will be looking forward to doing some more stormchasing.

Absolutely, and the storms we had this past week (as well as the ones in May) were not even remotely associated with the monsoon, even though they acted somewhat like it with the lightning shows & all. I don't know how familiar you are with Phoenix's or Arizona's weather history, but this June is starting out to be like one in 1972 with similar weather patterns: Pacific disturbances that help bring up the moisture from tropical cyclones further south, and the Pacific hurricane season is quite active and early this year just like it was in '72. That June was one for the record books: not only was it the wettest on record, but there was an outbreak of tornadoes around the middle of the month that caused considerable damage in parts of Scottsdale & Paradise Valley. Definitely a rarity for June, and for Phoenix in general to have storms like that!

[magnum0417]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Absolutely, and the storms we had this past week (as well as the ones in May) were not even remotely associated with the monsoon, even though they acted somewhat like it with the lightning shows & all. I don't know how familiar you are with Phoenix's or Arizona's weather history, but this June is starting out to be like one in 1972 with similar weather patterns: Pacific disturbances that help bring up the moisture from tropical cyclones further south, and the Pacific hurricane season is quite active and early this year just like it was in '72. That June was one for the record books: not only was it the wettest on record, but there was an outbreak of tornadoes around the middle of the month that caused considerable damage in parts of Scottsdale & Paradise Valley. Definitely a rarity for June, and for Phoenix in general to have storms like that!

I am a nature and weather lover and know that normal monsoons require extended periods of the Four Corners High allowing our typical 105-115 in June to force up the moisture from Mexico. These mild temps shall we say I am wondering how that may delay our true monsoon season from beginning until maybe late July (3-4 weeks later than usual).

May was a continuation of our winter pattern of Pacific lows so again, predict monsoon season will be significantly delayed.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by magnum0417

I am a nature and weather lover and know that normal monsoons require extended periods of the Four Corners High allowing our typical 105-115 in June to force up the moisture from Mexico. These mild temps shall we say I am wondering how that may delay our true monsoon season from beginning until maybe late July (3-4 weeks later than usual).

May was a continuation of our winter pattern of Pacific lows so again, predict monsoon season will be significantly delayed.

Could go either way. An influx of tropical cyclones in the Pacific could enhance the monsoon, like what happened last year (only later in the summer). The NWS is saying El Niño is still active, and that is what is causing the early and active Pacific tropical hurricane season. My hope is that the upcoming winter will be wet. The NWS predicted last winter would be wetter than normal, but it actually turned out to be another dud ... so I don't really trust anything the NWS predicts in the long range. We really need precipitation more during the winter months than the summer because our water supplies are generated from snowpack. Summer monsoon storms tend to be hit & miss, and really do very little for the CAP or the reservoirs.

[HX_Guy]

We got 0.24" of rain on June 5th, not bad! Sitting at 4.49" for the year.

[stevek64]

Here's hoping Hurricane Blanca brings us another batch of rain in the coming days.

http://www.weather.com/storms/hurricane

Says Blanca is the earliest in-season 2nd major hurricane on record, Cat 3 or higher, in the eastern Pacific basin dating back to 1971.

[Ponderosa]

I am less than impressed with this "record rainfall" talk. All that happened is that it rained a few drops on a day that had never received rain in the weather history. There were two days; now there is one. It has rained on every other day in June before. Big deal.

As for Blanca, she's a bust - clouds and a few sprinkles is all we will get. A couple days of clouds and sky high humidity with temps near 100. How delightful!

[Colt AZ]

Phoenix sets rainfall records ... WHAT???

Ain't that a kick in the knickers!

Dear NOAA, please provide us with more hurricanes.

ASAP!

[BIG CATS]

This rain isnt beneficial to our water levels, thats what sucks about it. All we really reap from these storms is higher humidity, more nasty mosquitos, and localised flooding. It helps lower the fire danger somewhat, thats about it.