arizona climate summary · canyon thon the 25 . by the 24th, the high pressure had moved over...

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Arizona Climate Summary September 2016

Summary of conditions for August 2016

August 2016 Temperature and Precipitation Summary August 1st – 16th: The moisture surge that started at the end of July continued through the first week of August, bringing

widespread rain showers across the state. The high pressure remained over Texas, bringing moist southerly flow into

Arizona. During that first week, the heaviest rainfall included 1.61” at Douglas on the 1st, 1.11” at Flagstaff on the 2nd,

1.30” at Payson on the 3rd, 1.15” at Window Rock on the 4th, 1.32” at Scottsdale on the 5th, 0.77” at Prescott on the 6th

and 0.90” at Douglas on the 7th. The cloud cover kept temperatures near normal, in the low 100s, during the week in the

southwest deserts and the low 70s at the higher elevations. By the 6th, the high pressure moved eastward, bringing clear

skies, drier conditions and higher temperatures to the western half of the state, though thunderstorms continued in the

rest of the state. From the 6th through the 9th, the warmest temperatures over the lower Colorado River hovered around

112oF. On the 9th, Coronado National Monument had 2.20” of rain and on the 11th, Prescott received 1.33”. By the 12th,

a low pressure system moved over Texas and further depressed the southerly flow, reducing the moisture across most of

the state and consequently reducing the rainfall totals. On the12th, Flagstaff received 0.52” and from the 13th through the

18th rainfall totals did not exceed 0.50”, and the thunderstorms were very localized in northern and eastern Arizona over

the higher elevations. Temperatures were above 110oF in the southwest deserts, with the peak at 114oF on the 15th and

16th at Yuma.

August 17th – 31st: By the 19th, the high was well off to the east over Texas and a low pressure system was off the

California coast. There was sufficient moisture over the state to keep temperatures down near normal around 104 in the

southwest deserts and generate daily thunderstorms over the high elevations in the north and east. Daily rainfall peaks

included 0.70” at Youngtown on the 19th, 0.25” at Flagstaff on the 20th, 0.33” at Navajo National Monument on the 21st,

0.70” at Springerville on the 22nd, 1.23” at Kingman on the 23rd, 0.42” at Payson on the 24th, and 0.60” at the Grand

Canyon on the 25th. By the 24th, the high pressure had moved over northern Mexico, and some tropical moisture from

the eastern Pacific was being drawn into the monsoon flow. On the 26th, Flagstaff had 1.62” of rain. By the 29th a low

pressure system moved over the state bringing dry northwesterly flow. This was the only day of the month when no

station reported rainfall. The peak rainfall on the 30th was 0.95” at Alpine and Yuma had temperatures over 110oF on the

29th and 30th. The month was characterized by scattered thunderstorms, highly localized, frequently with heavy rain;

very typical of the monsoon. The frequent cloud cover kept temperatures down near or below normal across most of the

month across the state.

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

mean daily dew points for Flagstaff, Phoenix, and Tucson; August climate statistics, maps of mean monthly maximum

and minimum temperatures, precipitation, dew points, wind speeds for August; and graphs of the mean August

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

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FLAGSTAFF CLIMATE STATISTICS

August 2016

This August was the 4th wettest on record and was

tied for 14th coolest with 1905 and 1997.

Avg Max Temp (F) 75.5 Normal 78.4

Avg Min Temp (F) 48.5 Normal 50.1

Avg Mean Temp (F) 62.0 Normal 64.2

Departure from Normal (F) -2.2

Highest Monthly Avg Temp (F) 67.5 in 1944

Lowest Monthly Avg Temp (F) 59.5 in 1968

Highest Temp this month (F): 84 on 14th

Lowest Temp this month (F): 41 on 29th

Record High (F): 93 on 8/2/1902

Record Low (F): 24 on 8/23/1968

Temperature or precipitation records this month:

26th HiPCP 1.41” set, previous record 0.98” 1984

27th HiPCP 0.94” set, previous record 0.90” 2007

Flagstaff Number of Days of:

Minimum Temp 50oF or higher 11

Minimum Temp 45oF or lower 7

Maximum Temp 80oF or higher 6

Maximum Temp 70oF or lower 4

Heating Degree Days 90 Normal 56

Cooling Degree Days 6 Normal 33

Degree base 65oF

Total August Precipitation 6.34”

Normal August Precipitation 3.11”

Departure from normal +3.23”

Greatest 24-Hr Precipitation 2.31” on 8/26-27

Total Precipitation Year-to-Date 17.19”

Departure from Normal +3.00”

Number of Days:

Clear 15

Partly Cloudy 16

Cloudy 0

Greatest August Precipitation 8.77” in 1904

Least August Precipitation 0.26” in 1962

Average Wind Speed 4.1 mph

Highest Peak Gust 34 mph from 270o on 13th

PHOENIX CLIMATE STATISTICS

August 2016

This August had no significant ranking for

temperature or precipitation.

Avg Max Temp(F) 102.9 Normal 104.4

Avg Min Temp(F) 80.9 Normal 82.7

Avg Mean Temp (F) 91.9 Normal 93.6

Departure from Normal (F) -1.7



Highest Temp this month (F) 111 on 16th

Lowest Temp this month (F): 74 on 23rd

Record High (F): 117 on 8/14/1915, 8/26/2011

Record Low (F): 58 on 8/20/1917

No temperature or precipitation records this month

Phoenix Number of Days of:







Degree base 65oF



Departure from normal -0.27”

Greatest 24-Hr Precipitation 0.52” on 5th


Departure from Normal -1.24”


Least August Precipitation 0.00” in 1973,

1975 and 2002.

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Number of Days:

Clear 13

Partly Cloudy 18

Cloudy 0


Highest Peak Gust 47 mph from 150o on 9th

TUCSON CLIMATE STATISTICS

August 2016

This August had no significant ranking for

temperature or precipitation.

Avg Max Temp(F) 96.7 Normal 97.4

Avg Min Temp(F) 74.1 Normal 73.3

Avg Mean Temp(F) 85.4 Normal 85.3

Departure from Normal (F) +0.1



Highest Temp this month (F): 104 on 16th

Lowest Temp this month (F): 66 on 28th

Record High (F): 112 on 8/1/1993

Record Low (F): 55 on 8/20/1917

No temperature or precipitation records this month

Tucson Number of Days of:







Degree base 65oF



Departure from normal -1.30”

Greatest 24-Hr Precipitation 0.86” on 9th


Departure from Normal +0.62”


Least August Precipitation 0.08” in 1924

Number of Days:

Clear 21

Partly Cloudy 3

Cloudy 0


Highest Peak Gust 39 mph from 180o on 21st

Data are from the National Weather Service and the

National Climatic Data Center and are preliminary.

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Wind Speeds for August:

Day Phoenix Flagstaff Tucson

(mph) Avg Max Avg Max Avg Max

1 7.4 33 3.2 21 5.2 20

2 9.5 44 3 24 6.9 18

3 7.6 31 3.5 20 6.9 28

4 8.1 25 3.5 24 8 M

5 6.4 29 4.2 18 7.1 31

6 5.7 19 3 21 6.4 27

7 7.2 20 4.1 32 5.5 20

8 6.9 22 7.1 29 5.3 19

9 8.9 47 6.6 29 6.2 31

10 5.6 31 5.8 23 5.3 23

11 4.2 21 4.5 30 6.4 21

12 8.5 27 2.9 23 5.6 22

13 5.1 29 2.8 34 6.7 32

14 8.2 23 3.3 15 10.6 26

15 6.9 17 4.9 25 6.6 22

16 9 30 3.6 25 7 32

17 7.7 30 4.2 25 7.1 20

18 8.6 30 2.2 25 6.1 21

19 10.7 33 3.8 25 8.1 26

20 8.7 41 3.8 22 8.1 28

21 6.9 34 4.5 18 7.4 39

22 7.5 32 5.5 28 6.2 17

23 9.2 31 5.8 25 5.4 23

24 5.7 42 4.4 23 6.2 24

25 5.9 23 4.6 26 6.8 26

26 10.2 29 4 31 6.6 22

27 6.1 19 5.6 27 6.5 23

28 4.8 21 3.4 22 5.5 17

29 5.4 23 4.8 27 5.5 19

30 7.4 37 2.6 20 10.7 27

31 7.2 28 2.3 18 13.8 36

Dew Points for August:

Daily Average Dew Point (oF):

Day Phx Tuc Flg

1 69 69 58

2 68 68 58

3 70 68 56

4 68 66 57

5 65 65 56

6 62 63 51

7 49 60 51

8 63 65 48

9 62 64 52

10 68 66 53

11 65 67 50

12 62 64 45

13 56 57 48

14 55 56 43

15 55 52 47

16 54 49 46

17 53 52 49

18 52 51 49

19 56 55 46

20 56 58 46

21 59 56 46

22 59 56 48

23 57 50 46

24 55 50 48

25 56 56 49

26 54 49 49

27 50 46 47

28 47 41 44

29 49 48 43

30 53 52 45

31 54 50 44

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The

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The minimum temperatures ranged from 30oF at Beaver Head to 82oF at Falcon Field in Mesa. The lowest maximum temperature of 69oF was recorded at

Snowslide Canyon, while the highest maximum temperature was 119oF at Havasu. The highest rainfall amounts were 14.96” at Grand Canyon Visitor’s

Center, 10.15” at Sedona, and the lowest was 0.00” around the Yuma area and the southwest corner. The lowest average dew point was 45oF at Page and the

highest was 65oF at Mohave near Parker. The highest peak wind gust was 50 mph at Roll. Average wind speeds ranged from 2 mph at Payson to 12 mph at

Kingman Airport.

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T

August 2016

The highest average minimum temperature was 84oF at Yuma, and the lowest average minimum temperature was 40.6oF at Sunrise Mtn. The highest average

maximum temperature was 112.7oF at Ehrenberg and lowest average maximum temperature was 62.7oF at Snowslide Canyon.

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August

August minimum temperatures were 0 to 3oF warmer than average in Yuma and La Paz counties, and 0-2oF cooler than normal across the rest of the state.

Northern Mohave and eastern Yavapai counties were as much as 4oF cooler than normal. Daytime temperatures were also 0 to 3oF cooler than average across

most of the state, with warmer than normal conditions in Yuma County. Northern and west central Arizona was much wetter than normal. The southeast also

received near average or greater than average precipitation. Gila, eastern Pima, and much Mohave County were 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, and eastern

Coconino counties are wetter than average so far this year.

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2016 Water Year

The Water Year minimum temperatures continue to be 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 are now 1 to 2oF warmer than normal, with slightly

cooler than normal areas in western Pinal and southern Navajo counties. Precipitation continues to be above normal in eastern Coconino, eastern Pima, and

northern Mohave counties. Western Pinal and Pima counties, southern Maricopa and much Yuma County are still below 70% of normal.

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

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

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2016 Cumulative Precipitation Graphs – Flagstaff, Phoenix and Tucson:

Flagstaff is 3.00” above normal, Tucson is 1.24” above normal, and Phoenix is 1.62” 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)

arizona climate summary · canyon thon the 25 . by the 24th, the high pressure had moved over...

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