929  
FXUS65 KPSR 141704  
AFDPSR  
 
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION  
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ  
1004 AM MST SUN SEP 14 2025  
   
UPDATE
 
UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION  
 

 
   
KEY MESSAGES
 
 
- NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW-AVERAGE TEMPERATURES TODAY BEFORE  
GRADUALLY WARMING THROUGH THE EARLY PART OF THE WORK WEEK.  
 
- NO SHOWERS OR STORMS EXPECTED TODAY THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF  
THE WEEK, WITH MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS.  
 
- POTENTIAL FOR A WIDESPREAD RAIN EVENT LATE WEEK INTO NEXT  
WEEKEND WITH A PUSH OF MOISTURE, BUT THERE IS STILL A HIGH  
DEGREE OF VARIABILITY WITH THIS FORECAST.  
 

 
   
SHORT TERM /TODAY THROUGH MONDAY/
 
 
THE TROUGH THAT BROUGHT US DRIER CONDITIONS AND COOLER  
TEMPERATURES, AS WELL AS HELPED SPAWN A WIDELY SEEN TORNADO IN  
SOUTHEAST UT YESTERDAY IS MOVING INTO THE PLAINS TODAY. ANOTHER  
SHORTWAVE TROUGH IS SEEN MOVING INTO OR ON WATER VAPOR SATELLITE  
EARLY THIS MORNING. THERE IS ALSO A MUCH WEAKER LOW CIRCULATION  
EVIDENT DUE WEST OF THE NORTHERN BAJA PENINSULA. THIS WEAK LOW  
MAY ACTUALLY PLAY A ROLE IN OUR WEATHER FOR THE END OF THE WEEK,  
BUT FOR NOW WEAK ANTI-CYCLONIC FLOW IS NOW IN PLACE OVER SOUTHERN  
AZ AND SOCAL WITH A STRENGTHENING HIGH PRESSURE OVER NORTH-CENTRAL  
MX EXPECTED TO SLOWLY EXPAND INTO THE DESERT SOUTHWEST THROUGH  
MONDAY.  
 
MESOANALYSIS SHOWS MUCH DRIER CONDITIONS ARE NOW IN PLACE  
ACROSS ALL OF AZ AND SOCAL, WITH MOST OF THE REGION AT OR BELOW  
0.5" PWAT MAGNITUDES. THIS DRY AIR WILL KEEP RAIN CHANCES AT  
NEARLY 0% FOR THE WHOLE REGION THROUGH AT LEAST MONDAY. THE DRIER  
LOW LEVEL CONDITIONS, PLUS THE CLEAR SKIES, ARE HELPING MAXIMIZE  
RADIATIONAL COOLING AND WILL CONTINUE TO RESULT IN COOLER, MORE  
CRISP, MORNINGS. LOW TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE LOWER DESERTS THIS  
MORNING WILL ONCE AGAIN BE IN THE LOW TO MID 70S IN MOST URBAN  
CENTERS, WITH SEVERAL RURAL AND OUTLYING COMMUNITIES DIPPING INTO  
THE 60S. THE SAME CAN BE SAID FOR MONDAY'S FORECAST LOWS, BUT JUST  
A TOUCH WARMER (+1-3 DEGREES). HIGH TEMPERATURES TODAY ARE  
FORECAST TO BE RIGHT NEAR TO JUST BELOW DAILY AVERAGES, WITH MANY  
LOWER DESERT LOCATIONS ONCE AGAIN COMING SHY OF THE CENTURY MARK.  
THE LITTLE BIT OF WARMING INTO MONDAY WILL YIELD HIGHS 2-4 DEGREES  
WARMER, WITH MOST URBAN AREAS EXPECTED TO REACH 100-103 DEGREES.  
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE COOLER MORNINGS, BUT STILL PLAY IT SAFE IN  
THE AFTERNOONS. LONG EXPOSURE TO 90+ DEGREE HEAT IN THE AFTERNOONS  
CAN STILL HAVE NEGATIVE HEALTH IMPACTS WITHOUT PROPER HEAT SAFETY  
ACTIONS.  
 

 
   
LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/
 
 
FORECAST CONFIDENCE THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THIS COMING WORK  
WEEK REMAINS HIGH. HIGH PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO NUDGE INTO THE  
REGION, LEADING TO A GRADUAL RISE IN 500MB HEIGHTS. GLOBAL  
ENSEMBLES HAVE H5 HEIGHTS PEAK AROUND 590DAM ON TUESDAY, WHICH IS  
AROUND 80TH PERCENTILE OF CLIMATOLOGY FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. AS A  
RESULT SURFACE TEMPERATURES WILL CLIMB SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL FOR  
AT LEAST TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. LATEST NBM FORECAST HAS AFTERNOON  
HIGHS REACHING 101-105 DEGREES BOTH DAYS. THERE WILL BE A SLOW  
RETURN OF MOISTURE THROUGH WEDNESDAY, ENOUGH FOR SOME CLOUDS TO  
DEVELOP, BUT LIKELY NOT ENOUGH STILL FOR SHOWERS OR STORMS IN  
SOUTH-CENTRAL AZ TO SOUTHEAST CA. LATEST NBM POPS ARE AT <5%  
TUESDAY AND <10% WEDNESDAY.  
 
FOR LATE-WEEK INTO NEXT WEEKEND, CONFIDENCE IS SLOWLY INCREASING  
IN FAVOR OF A - POTENTIALLY WIDESPREAD - RAINFALL EVENT. HOWEVER,  
THERE STILL REMAINS A LARGE SPREAD IN OUTCOMES ACROSS THE 3  
PRIMARY GLOBAL ENSEMBLES AND THERE ARE SOME UNCERTAINTIES IN THE  
SYNOPTIC SCALE FORCING. THE INTERQUARTILE RANGES FOR PWAT,  
ACCUMULATED PRECIP, AND TEMPERATURES ARE STILL QUITE LARGE WITH  
THE MOST RECENT 00Z ENSEMBLE RUNS. SO IT IS STILL TOO EARLY TO PUT  
ANY STOCK IN FORECAST RAINFALL AMOUNTS AND IMPACTS. THE  
CONFIDENCE IS INCREASING THOUGH, LARGELY DUE TO THE LOWER QUARTILE  
PWAT FORECASTS AND POTENTIAL FOR JET STREAK SUPPORT. THE 10TH  
PERCENTILE PWAT FORECAST IS NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL AT 1.1-1.2"  
ACROSS THE LOWER DESERTS BY FRIDAY. TYPICAL PWAT LEVELS THIS TIME  
OF YEAR ARE AROUND 0.9-1.0". GREATEST PWAT ANOMALIES (>150%)  
CONTINUE TO FAVOR WESTERN AREAS, IN SOCAL AND JUST OFFSHORE. THESE  
AREAS, AND ALONG THE COLORADO RIVER, LOOK LIKE THE MORE FAVORABLE  
AREAS FOR JET SUPPORT AS WELL. SO, THESE MENTIONED AREAS  
CURRENTLY HAVE THE HIGHER ODDS FOR RAINFALL AND THIS LINES UP WITH  
THE LATEST CPC 6-10 OUTLOOK'S HIGHLIGHTED AREAS WITH THE HIGHEST  
ODDS OF ABOVE NORMAL PRECIP.  
 
AS FOR POTENTIAL RAINFALL, IT IS AT LEAST WORTH MENTIONING THERE  
ARE SEVERAL ENSEMBLE MEMBERS WITH HIGH RAINFALL AMOUNTS. AROUND  
5-10% OF THE GLOBAL ENSEMBLE MEMBERS HAVE 1.00-2.00" RAINFALL  
AMOUNTS. HOWEVER, A LOT OF THESE EXTREME MEMBERS INVOLVE A  
TROPICAL CIRCULATION MOVING UP THE BAJA. RIGHT NOW THIS DEFINITELY  
SEEMS LIKE QUITE A STRETCH GIVEN THE MAJORITY OF MEMBERS WILL  
HAVE HIGH PRESSURE STILL FIRMLY IN PLACE OVER NORTHWEST MX AND  
TURN ANY TROPICAL CIRCULATIONS MORE OUT TO SEA. ON THE OTHER END  
OF THE FORECAST SPECTRUM, THERE ARE STILL AROUND 25% OF MODEL  
MEMBERS WITH 0.05" OR LESS. THIS FAR OUT IN THE FORECAST THE  
EXTREME RAINFALL FORECASTS ARE DRIVING UP THE ENSEMBLE MEANS AND  
WITH TIME THE FORECAST MAY TREND MORE TOWARD THE LOWER MEDIAN  
FORECASTS. ALSO, DON'T BE SURPRISED IF COME LATE NEXT WEEK THE  
RAINFALL FORECAST HAS BACKED OFF OR BECOME MORE FOCUSED TO A  
PARTICULAR AREA AND/OR MOST AREAS RECEIVE JUST CLOUD-COVER. STILL  
A LOT TO PARSE OUT WITH THIS FORECAST.  
 

 
   
AVIATION
 
UPDATED AT 1705Z.  
 
SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST CA INCLUDING KPHX, KIWA,  
KSDL, KDVT, KBLH AND KIPL:  
 
NO AVIATION CONCERNS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH MONDAY MORNING UNDER  
MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES. WINDS WILL OVERALL FAVOR DIURNAL TRENDS, WITH  
EXTENDED PERIODS OF VARIABILITY, ESPECIALLY FOR THE WESTERN  
TERMINALS. EXPECT A PERIOD OF SOUTHERLY WINDS MIDDAY TODAY BEFORE  
GRADUALLY VEERING TOWARD THE W-SW BY MID-LATE AFTERNOON FOR THE  
PHOENIX TERMINALS. SPEEDS WILL REMAIN GENERALLY LESS THAN 10 KTS  
THROUGH THE PERIOD.  
 

 
   
FIRE WEATHER
 
 
NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES WILL BE COMMON ACROSS  
THE REGION TODAY, WITH A WARM-UP TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE AVERAGE BY  
TUESDAY - WEDNESDAY. WINDS WILL BE LIGHT NEARLY EVERY DAY,  
FOLLOWING TYPICAL DIURNAL TENDENCIES, WITH OCCASIONAL AFTERNOON  
GUSTS UP TO 10-20 MPH. DRY CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE  
FIRST HALF THIS WEEK WITH NO CHANCES FOR WETTING RAINS. MINRHS  
THROUGH WEDNESDAY WILL MOSTLY RANGE FROM 15-25% (10-15% TODAY)  
ACROSS ALL DISTRICTS WITH FAIR OVERNIGHT RECOVERIES AT 30-50%. THE  
FORECAST FOR LATE IN THE WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND IS STILL  
HIGHLY UNCERTAIN. HOWEVER, A GOOD PUSH OF MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO  
MOVE INTO THE REGION BEGINNING THURSDAY, WHICH WILL INCREASE THE  
RH LEVELS AND WILL INCREASE ODDS FOR SHOWERS AND STORMS.  
 

 
   
PSR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
 
 
AZ...NONE.  
CA...NONE.  

 
 

 
 
SHORT TERM...BENEDICT  
LONG TERM...BENEDICT  
AVIATION...RW/FRIEDERS  
FIRE WEATHER...BENEDICT  
 
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