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Arizona Climate Summary October 2016

Summary of conditions for September 2016

September 2016 Temperature and Precipitation Summary

September 1st – 14th: High pressure over the Four Corners brought rainfall to southeastern and the higher elevations of

central and northern Arizona during the first three days of September. Prescott had 0.70” on the 1st, 0.60” on the 2nd and

Valle (in Flagstaff) had 0.89” on the 3rd. High temperatures in the southwest deserts remained near 105 through

September 5th. By the 4th, the high pressure broke down and a low pressure system over Nevada brought southwesterly

flow and drier air into Arizona. Temperatures remained near normal. On the 6th, a low pressure system off the coast of

Mexico brought tropical moisture into the state and lowered temperatures about 5 degrees. On the 6th and 7th, Coronado

National Monument in southeastern AZ had 3.22” and Alpine had 0.85” on the 8th. There was a brief reprieve from the

rainfall on the 10th as drier air was pushed into the southwest. Between the 11th and 14th, a low pressure system moved

into Nevada and southern Utah, bringing light rainfall to the southwest and the higher elevations of eastern Arizona.

High rainfall totals included 0.20” at Springerville on the 11th, 0.51” at Bisbee on the 12th, 0.25” at Bisbee-Douglas on

the 13th, and 0.20” at Show Low on the 14th.

September 15th – 30th: From the 15th through the 19th, conditions were relatively dry and stable across the state as a

weak low pressure system over Nevada and Utah moved slowly through the west. Flagstaff reached freezing for the first

time this fall on September 15th and had six nights of freezing temperatures this month. Temperatures dipped below

100oF on the 13th and did not exceed 100oF in the state until the 17th. The only rainfall was 0.02” at Elgin on the 16th and

0.26” at Bellemont on the 17th. By the 20th, the high pressure over west Texas brought significant moisture into the state

with widespread rainfall across northern and central Arizona. Rainfall totals from the 20th through the 23rd included

2.04” at Williams, 1.96” at Seligman, 1.82” at Grand Canyon North Rim, 1.69” at Grand Canyon Airport, 1.40” at

Bellemont, 1.30” at Prescott, and 0.73” at Flagstaff. The 24th was dry statewide, and on the 25th an easterly wave

brought more tropical moisture up from Mexico and the eastern Pacific into the state. Daily rainfall totals included 0.39”

at Bisbee-Douglas on the 26th, 0.19” at Pioneer on the 27th, 0.40” at Flagstaff on the 28th, 0.82” at Show Low on the 29th,

and 0.65” at Springerville on the 30th. Temperatures dropped below 100oF on the 22nd, and remained below 100oF for

the rest of the month except in Yuma that had 101 on the 26th and 100 on the 30th.

In This Issue: Overview of September, graphs of the September daily maximum and minimum temperatures,

precipitation, mean daily dew points for Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Tucson; September climate statistics, maps of mean

monthly maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation, dew points, wind speeds for September; and graphs of the

mean September temperature and precipitation for the period of record for Tucson, Phoenix, and Flagstaff, graphs of the

cumulative precipitation for the calendar year for Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Tucson. Climate calendars for Flagstaff,

Phoenix, Tucson, Prescott, Winslow and Yuma, including daily and monthly normals and extremes, for each month of

the year, can be downloaded directly from the State Climate website. See p.19 of this report for calendar abbreviations.

Data are preliminary and are from the National Weather Service Forecast Offices in Flagstaff, Phoenix and Tucson.

**Note: The discrepancy between the Statewide Temperature and Precipitation values for Phoenix, Flagstaff and

Tucson and the daily values in their graphs are due to the reporting times. Statewide Temperature and Precipitation

values are taken at 5pm, while official daily records at the airports are taken from Midnight to Midnight. Dr. Nancy J. Selover, State Climatologist

http://azclimate.asu.edu 480-965-6265

Edited by Nancy J. Selover

© 2016 Arizona State Climate Office

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September 2016 Daily Temperature, Precipitation, & Dew Point for Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Tucson

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FLAGSTAFF CLIMATE STATISTICS

September 2016

This September had no significant ranking for

temperature or precipitation.

Avg Max Temp (F) 71.1 Normal 72.9

Avg Min Temp (F) 42.5 Normal 42.0

Avg Mean Temp (F) 56.8 Normal 57.4

Departure from Normal (F) -0.6

Highest Monthly Avg Temp (F) 62.1 in 1947

Lowest Monthly Avg Temp (F) 52.3 in 1912

Highest Temp this month (F): 82 on 10th & 19th

Lowest Temp this month (F): 30 on 17th & 24th

Record High (F): 91 on 9/1, 9/2, & 9/3/1948

Record Low (F): 20 on 9/22/1912

No temperature or precipitation records this month:

Flagstaff Number of Days of:

Minimum Temp 50oF or higher 5

Minimum Temp 32oF or lower 6

Maximum Temp 80oF or higher 3

Maximum Temp 70oF or lower 13

Heating Degree Days 239 Normal 229

Cooling Degree Days 1 Normal 3

Degree base 65oF

Total September Precipitation 1.54”

Normal September Precipitation 2.38”

Departure from normal -0.84”

Greatest 24-Hr Precipitation 0.48” on 9/19-20

Total Precipitation Year-to-Date 18.73”

Departure from Normal +2.16”

Number of Days:

Clear 22

Partly Cloudy 7

Cloudy 1

Greatest September Precipitation 6.75” in 1983

Least September Precipitation: Trace in 1957,

1973, 1992, 1955, and 1898

Average Wind Speed 4.1 mph

Highest Peak Gust 46 mph from 220o on 14th

PHOENIX CLIMATE STATISTICS

September 2016



Avg Max Temp(F) 97.5 Normal 99.8

Avg Min Temp(F) 75.7 Normal 76.9

Avg Mean Temp (F) 86.6 Normal 88.4



Lowest Monthly Avg Temp (F) 78.9 in 1912, 1900

Highest Temp this month (F) 106 on 3rd

Lowest Temp this month (F): 62 on 24th

Record High (F): 113 on 9/5/1945

Record Low (F): 47 on 9/20-21/1965, 9/22/1895

No temperature or precipitation records this month

Phoenix Number of Days of:







Degree base 65oF




Greatest 24-Hr Precipitation 0.26” on 22nd


Departure from Normal -1.56”


Least September Precipitation 0.00” in 1973, 1968,

and 1988 and 13 other years.

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Number of Days:

Clear 15

Partly Cloudy 13

Cloudy 2


Highest Peak Gust 37 mph from 270o on 22nd

TUCSON CLIMATE STATISTICS

September 2016



Avg Max Temp(F) 92.7 Normal 94.5

Avg Min Temp(F) 68.6 Normal 68.6

Avg Mean Temp(F) 80.6 Normal 81.6



Lowest Monthly Avg Temp (F) 76.3 in 1964

Highest Temp this month (F): 104 on 5th

Lowest Temp this month (F): 57 on 25th

Record High (F): 107 on 9/10-11/1990, 9/14/2000

Record Low (F): 43 on 9/26/1913

Temperature and precipitation records this month:

7th LoMax 77 tied, first set in 1919

7th Precip 1.25” set, previous record 1.15” in 2006

Tucson Number of Days of:







Degree base 65oF




Greatest 24-Hr Precipitation 1.27” on 7-8th


Departure from Normal +0.93”


Least September Precipitation 0.00” in

1953,1898, 1968 and 3 other years.

Number of Days:

Clear 21

Partly Cloudy 3

Cloudy 1


Highest Peak Gust 42 mph from 130o on 29th

Data are from the National Weather Service and the

National Climatic Data Center and are preliminary.

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Wind Speeds for September:

Day Phoenix Flagstaff Tucson

(mph) Avg Max Avg Max Avg Max

1 7.8 27 2.5 20 7.3 26

2 5.3 20 2.5 19 7.4 20

3 9.3 28 7.6 34 8.1 225

4 7.8 20 10.6 38 7.8 24

5 5.3 24 6.1 29 8 27

6 8.4 25 7.1 31 7.8 27

7 9 29 2.9 18 8.5 26

8 6.1 21 6.4 22 4.6 21

9 6.4 20 4 20 5 17

10 4 16 4 26 4.7 19

11 6.3 21 6.9 32 8.7 23

12 8.5 26 11.8 42 10 27

13 11.8 29 17.3 45 11.9 29

14 7 25 15 46 5.9 20

15 3.5 21 4.7 24 4.9 21

16 5.6 17 3.7 24 5 17

17 3.9 16 2 20 6.5 23

18 5.1 16 3.3 19 6.3 15

19 8.4 29 3.4 21 8.1 21

20 10 31 4.1 24 5.1 17

21 9 33 6 26 6.1 24

22 6.6 37 14.5 42 6.8 26

23 8.4 25 9.3 39 9.2 32

24 5.4 19 7.5 25 5.5 22

25 6 24 13.6 40 8.2 23

26 10.5 32 9.4 30 16.6 38

27 8.5 28 4.6 31 14.3 38

28 7 30 2.5 30 8.8 31

29 6.5 17 2.3 14 5.8 42

30 6.8 27 2.4 19 8.4 27

Dew Points for September:

Daily Average Dew Point (oF):

Day Phx Tuc Flg

1 61 59 53

2 55 52 50

3 38 37 38

4 39 36 35

5 42 42 30

6 59 59 41

7 65 66 45

8 62 65 45

9 58 60 39

10 52 58 41

11 53 57 41

12 54 57 44

13 53 59 42

14 40 52 31

15 34 43 22

16 31 41 20

17 33 43 19

18 37 45 23

19 52 54 39

20 59 58 45

21 65 56 53

22 44 58 32

23 43 48 37

24 33 37 31

25 43 42 31

26 45 48 37

27 54 55 43

28 56 61 50

29 58 61 48

30 56 63 50

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The

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The minimum temperatures ranged from 18oF at Fort Valley near Flagstaff to 68oF at Bartlett Dam. The lowest maximum temperature of 68oF was recorded

at Snowslide Canyon, while the highest maximum temperature was 114oF at Parker. The highest rainfall amounts were 6.17” at Hereford in southeastern

Arizona, 5.61” at Reddington near Tucson, and 5.47” at Fort Huachuca, and several locations in western and southwestern Arizona had 0.00”. The lowest

average dew point was 34oF at Flagstaff and the highest was 58oF at Paloma. The highest peak wind gust was 36 mph at Parker. Average wind speeds ranged

from 3 mph at many locations in central Arizona to 11 mph at Kingman, Laughlin-Bullhead City and Flagstaff.

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T

September 2016

The highest average minimum temperature was 76oF at Phoenix Airport, and the lowest average minimum temperature was 36oF at Alpine. The highest

average maximum temperature was 107oF at Ehrenberg and lowest average maximum temperature was 58oF at Snowslide Canyon.

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September

September minimum temperatures were 0 to 4oF cooler than average across western Arizona, and 0-4oF warmer than normal in Gila, Apache and Coconino

counties. Daytime temperatures were also 2 to 4oF cooler than average across southern and central Arizona, with warmer than normal conditions in Apache

County. Southern Arizona and western Coconino County were much wetter than normal while the western, central and northeastern counties were much drier

than normal.

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Calendar Year 2016

Calendar year minimum temperatures are still within 2oF of average, with the cooler temperatures in eastern Arizona and warmer conditions in central and

western Arizona. Daytime temperatures are still 1 to 3oF warmer than average statewide, with slightly cooler conditions in southern Navajo and western Pinal

counties. Precipitation is below 80% of normal across east central and southwestern Arizona. Northern Mohave, eastern Pima, Graham, Cochise and eastern

Coconino counties are wetter than average so far this year.

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2016 Water Year

The Water Year minimum temperatures were within 2oF of normal across most of the state with the exception of very cool conditions in western Pima

County, and warmer than normal conditions in southern Mohave County. Daytime temperatures were 0 to 2oF warmer than normal, with slightly cooler than

normal areas in western Pinal and southern Navajo counties. Precipitation was above normal in eastern Coconino, eastern Pima, Cochise, and northern

Mohave counties. Western Pinal, Greenlee, and most of Yuma County received less than 70% of normal rainfall.

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September Mean Temperature Graphs – Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Tucson 1895-2016:

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September Mean Precipitation Graphs – Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Tucson 1895-2016

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2016 Cumulative Precipitation Graphs – Flagstaff, Phoenix and Tucson:

Flagstaff is 2.16” above normal, Tucson is 0.93” above normal, and Phoenix is 1.56” below normal.

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The downloadable normals and extremes calendars use the following abbreviations:

NORM = 30 year (1971-2000) average value (degrees Fahrenheit (F))

OBS = The temperature observation for that day this year

AVG = Average daily temperature

HI MAX = Highest maximum temperature for that day (F)

LO MAX = Lowest maximum temperature for that day (F)

LO MIN = Lowest minimum temperature for that day (F)

HI MIN = Highest minimum temperature for that day (F)

Mx PCP = Maximum precipitation for that day (inches)

Mx SNO = Maximum snowfall for that day (inches)

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