046
NOUS45 KTWC 010658
PNSTWC
AUGUST AND SUMMER 2008 CLIMATOLOGICAL REPORT FOR TUCSON
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TUCSON AZ
1158 PM MST SUN AUG 31 2008
..AUGUST AND SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS
..30TH WARMEST AND 44TH DRIEST AUGUST ON RECORD
..16TH WARMEST AND 40TH WETTEST SUMMER ON RECORD
THE AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 85.4 DEGREES IS A HALF OF A
DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 30TH WARMEST AUGUST ON RECORD.
TEMPERATURE EXTREMES RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 106 DEGREES ON THE 1ST TO
A LOW OF 69 DEGREES ON THE 29TH AND 31ST.
RAINFALL AMOUNTS ACROSS THE METRO AREA RANGED WIDELY FROM 1.5" TO 4"
LOCALIZED SPOTS RECORDING BETWEEN 4-6". THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS
RECORDED 5-9". OFFICIALLY THE AIRPORT RECORDED 1.70" WHICH IS
SIX-TENTHS OF AN INCH BELOW NORMAL.
..AUGUST 2008 STATS
MONTH NORMAL DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE 96.8 97.4 - 0.6
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE 74.0 72.4 + 1.6
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 85.4 84.9 + 0.5
RAINFALL 1.70" 2.30" - 0.60"
NUMBER OF 100+ DEGREE HIGHS 12 12 0
SUMMER 2008 CONTINUED THE TREND...STARTED IN 1999...OF ABOVE NORMAL
AVERAGE TEMPERATURES WITH THE AIRPORT RECORDING AN AVERAGE SUMMER
TEMPERATURE OF 86 DEGREES. THIS RANKS AS THE 16TH WARMEST (TIED WITH
1986/1942/1977) SUMMER ON RECORD. SUMMER RAINFALL WAS AGAIN ABOVE
NORMAL ACROSS THE METRO AREA WITH THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
OFFICIALLY RECORDING 5.28". THIS MARKS ONLY THE THIRD TIME IN
RECORDED HISTORY THAT THE OFFICIAL RAINFALL LOCATION IN TUCSON
RECORDED FOUR STRAIGHT SUMMERS WITH FIVE OR MORE INCHES OF RAIN. THE
TWO OTHER PERIODS WERE IN 1983-1986 AND 1907-1910.
..SUMMER 2008 STATS
SEASON NORMAL DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE 98.7 99.1 - 0.4
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE 73.3 71.3 + 2.0
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 86.0 85.2 + 0.8
RAINFALL 5.28" 4.61" + 0.67"
NUMBER OF 100+ DEGREE HIGHS 44 46 - 2
PAST 10 SUMMER TEMPERATURE AVERAGES/RAINFALL TOTALS/ETC...
AVG. HIGH AVG. LOW AVG. TEMP RAINFALL 100+ HIGHS
2008 98.7 73.3 86.0 5.28" 44
2007 99.7 74.1 86.9 6.12" 54
2006 98.7 74.9 86.8 8.91" 47
2005 99.8 73.6 86.7 5.25" 52
2004 99.0 72.1 85.5 1.81" 47
2003 100.4 73.7 87.1 4.54" 57
2002 100.5 73.4 86.9 4.10" 57
2001 99.1 72.6 85.9 2.48" 41
2000 98.8 73.0 85.9 4.85" 49
1999 97.0 71.7 84.3 7.36" 30
--------- -------- --------- -------- ---------
10 YEAR AVERAGE 99.2 73.2 86.2 5.07" 47
1971-2000 NORMAL 99.1 71.3 85.2 4.61" 46
AS IS ALWAYS THE CASE WITH SUMMER THUNDERSTORMS...RAINFALL TOTALS
VARIED WIDELY ACROSS THE METRO AREA. THE FOLLOWING ARE SELECTED
LOCATIONS ACROSS EASTERN PIMA COUNTY (TOTALS COURTESY OF THE PIMA
COUNTY REGIONAL FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT)...
CDO WASH DRAINAGE BASIN...
BIG WASH/RANCHO VISTOSO (ORO VALLEY) .. 10.47"
MOORE ROAD/LA CHOLLA BLVD ............. 8.52"
SOUTH ORO VALLEY ...................... 7.40"
CATALINA STATE PARK ................... 10.98"
GOLDER RANCH BRIDGE (CATALINA) ........ 8.11"
CATALINA MOUNTAINS (ABOVE 5000 FEET) .. 12"-19"
CDO WASH @ INA ROAD ................... 7.52"
TANQUE VERDE DRAINAGE BASIN...
SABINO CANYON DAM ..................... 10.79"
VENTANA CANYON ........................ 8.35"
SABINO CANYON @ TANQUE VERDE BRIDGE ... 5.63"
AGUA CALIENTE @ HOUGHTON .............. 9.92"
TANQUE VERDE RANCH .................... 7.24"
PANTANO WASH/RINCON CREEK...
PANTANO WASH @ HOUGHTON ............... 5.71"
GOLF LINKS @ KOLB ROAD ................ 6.61"
MANNING CAMP (ABOVE 5000 FEET)......... 21.14"
SANTA CRUZ RIVER & RILLITO BASINS...
TUCSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT .......... 5.28"
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA CAMPUS .......... 8.34"
NEAR MARANA AIRPORT ................... 2.52"
SANTA CRUZ RIVER @ INA ROAD ........... 5.20"
RILLITO @ LA CHOLLA BLVD .............. 6.26"
ALAMO WASH @ GLENN .................... 10.51"
SANTA CRUZ RIVER @ VALENCIA ........... 5.83"
WILMOT ROAD NEAR PRISON ............... 4.92"
2008 CONTINUES TO BE A WARM YEAR WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 71.0
DEGREES. THIS IS ONE DEGREE ABOVE THE NORMAL THRU AUGUST AND RANKS
AS THE 23RD WARMEST YEAR TO DATE.
..2008 STATS THRU AUGUST
YEAR NORMAL DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE 84.8 84.1 + 0.7
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE 57.3 55.9 + 1.4
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 71.0 70.0 + 1.0
NUMBER OF 100+ DEGREE HIGHS 48 49 - 1
RAINFALL 7.11" 7.81" - 0.70"
2008 MONSOON RAINFALL 5.28" 4.61" + 0.67"
2006-07 WATER YEAR RAINFALL 8.69" 10.72" - 2.03"
ONCE AGAIN THE TUCSON AREA WILL ENTER THE LAST MONTH OF THE WATER
YEAR (OCT 1 THRU SEP 30) BELOW NORMAL. WITH ONE MONTH REMAINING IN
THE WATER YEAR...THE AIRPORT IS OVER TWO INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND
WILL NEED THREE AND A HALF INCHES IN SEPTEMBER FOR A NORMAL WATER
YEAR. THERE HAVE BEEN ONLY SEVEN SEPTEMBERS SINCE 1895 THAT HAS
RECORDED RAINFALL OF 3.50" OR GREATER.
PAST 10 WATER YEAR RAINFALL TOTALS (OCT 1 THRU AUG 31)
2007-08 ... 8.69" 2002-03 ... 7.69"
2006-07 ... 8.64" 2001-02 ... 6.12"
2005-06 ... 9.64" 2000-01 ... 12.49"
2004-05 ... 10.97" 1999-98 ... 6.07"
2003-04 ... 6.80" 1998-99 ... 8.84"
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 10.72"
TEN YEAR AVERAGE ... 8.72" OR 20" RAINFALL DEFICIT
..LOOKING AHEAD INTO SEPTEMBER
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FORECASTS THAT THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER
WILL HAVE SLIGHTLY ENHANCED PROBABILITIES OF ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND EQUAL CHANCES FOR ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL.
FALL 2008 IS FORECAST TO HAVE SLIGHTLY ENHANCED PROBABILITIES FOR
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE OR BELOW NORMAL
RAINFALL.
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE ......... 94.0 DEGREES
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE........... 67.7 DEGREES
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE ...... 80.9 DEGREES
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE .......... 107 DEGREES ON SEPTEMBER 14 2000
(LAST OF 9 OCCURRENCES)
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE ........... 43 DEGREES ON SEPTEMBER 26 1913
WARMEST SEPTEMBER (AVG) .......... 84.8 DEGREES IN 2000
COLDEST SEPTEMBER (AVG) .......... 76.3 DEGREES IN 1964
NORMAL RAINFALL .................. 1.45 INCHES
WETTEST SEPTEMBER DAY ............ 2.85 INCHES ON SEPTEMBER 10 1964
WETTEST SEPTEMBER ................ 5.11 INCHES IN 1964
DRIEST SEPTEMBER ................. 0.00 INCHES IN 1953
THE NUMBER OF DAYLIGHT HOURS WILL DECREASE FROM 12 HOURS 48 MINUTES
ON THE 1ST TO 11 HOURS 52 MINUTES ON THE 30TH...A LOSS OF 56
MINUTES. FALL BEGINS ON THE 22ND AT 8:44 AM MST WHEN THE SUN BEGINS
TO CROSS THE EQUATOR INTO THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE.
(ADDITIONAL DAILY DATA AND GRAPHS ARE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE AT:
HTTP://WWW.WRH.NOAA.GOV/TWC/CLIMATE/MONTHLY/AUG08.PHP)
GLUECK
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