We all see the photos/videos of running washes and heavy rain but just how much water is falling from the sky?

Using Maricopa County Flood Control rain gauges and some personal weather stations to fill in the gaps, on average, approximately 1.90" fell over the nearly 16,000-acre area noted in the yellow box (image above) on July 28, 2022.

Using the fact that there are ~27,154 gallons of water when one inch of rain falls on an acre of ground, that brings us to a total of ~820,219,154 gallons of water that fell in a very short period of time across the area.

To put this into a little more context, that is enough water to fill the swimming pool in Chase Field 96,496 times. In other words, a lot of water.

As you can see, even though an inch of rain does not seem like a lot, it adds up quickly resulting in running washes and flooding.

Officially, Monsoon 2022 started on June 15th and will end on September 30th, but before 2008, the dew point rule was used. The rule was that the monsoon started in the Valley of the Sun if the daily average dew point in Phoenix was 55º+ for three days in a row.

Some people (myself included) still like to track the dew point, and it is was great excitement to say that today (June 27th) will likely be the third day in a row with a daily average dew point of 55º+ at Phoenix Sky Harbor (57º on June 25th, 57º on June 26th, and estimated to be around 61º on June 27th). This means the monsoon, using the dew point rule, started on Saturday, June 25!

This ties as the 5th earliest start to the monsoon using the dew point rule.

Top five earliest starts:
1) June 17, 2000
2) June 19, 1958
3) June 21, 2001
4) June 23, 1954
5) June 25, 1984, 1999, 2022

Monsoon 2022 continues to be active. Multiple outflows converged on the Valley of the Sun during the afternoon of June 26th, resulting in the formation of strong to severe thunderstorms. Officially, Phoenix Sky Harbor picked up 0.18" of rain, setting the record for the wettest June 26th on record. This was not a particularly hard record to break, considering this is only the 4th time rain has fallen on June 26th. The old record was 0.07" set in 1927.

Another, perhaps more interesting fact, is this is the 3rd day with measurable rain so far this month. Our of 127 years of weather records, this is only the 10th year that there have been three or more days of measurable rain in June. The record number of days is four, and with more rain in the forecast, we might just tie the record.

Monsoon 2022 officially started on June 15th and since then (through June 25th), Phoenix Sky Harbor has measured 0.14" of rain. This makes it the 10th wettest start to monsoon since records began in 1896. Average rain during this time is just 0.01".

Also of note, over the past 127 years (since 1896) measurable rain has only been recorded in 21 years during the June 15th through June 25th time period.

List of wettest monsoon starts (June 15th-25th) from 1896 through 2022:
1972: 1.64"
1965: 0.91"
1899: 0.61"
1967: 0.44"
2000: 0.30"
1925: 0.21"
1933: 0.21"
1984: 0.18"
2021: 0.17"
1930: 0.16"
1949: 0.14"
2022: 0.14"
1950: 0.10"
1918: 0.08"
1958: 0.05"
1934: 0.03"
1988: 0.02"
1898: 0.01"
1966: 0.01"
1986: 0.01"
2001: 0.01"
All other years: 0.00"

Have you received rain yet this monsoon? If you have, congrats, but if you have not don't think this monsoon is a bust just yet!

Looking at the number of years Phoenix has seen rain on a given day throughout the year from 1896 through 2021, Phoenix is currently in the "pit of dryness". On average, only two to three years out of 126 see rain on any given day in June. That's not a lot, and shows the June rain this year is certainly rare.

On average, rain chances increase in early July and continue to rise until the first part of August, peaking on Aug 3rd.

Bottom line, this has been a unique start to monsoon 2022 and one we should be thankful for as it has given some beneficial rain to the parched landscape!

The first 100º+ day of the year in Phoenix is guaranteed to happen every year, and this year was no exception! At 2:12pm on May 7th, the temperature reached the 100º mark. If you don't like the heat, at least this year was well past the average of May 2nd, and the latest first 100º+ day since 2010!

Looking at the long-term record (since 1896), the latest first 100º day was back in 1913, when we held off until June 18th! The earliest on record was in 1988, when we had the pleasure of hitting the century mark on March 26th.

Phoenix Sky Harbor hit 90º for the first time this year around 1:18 pm on March 25th, but the thermometer did not stop there. It continued rising until reaching a high of 96º, which broke the record for the day of 93º set back in 1988.

A fun fact, this is the second warmest high temperature on record to be measured on the first 90º+ day. The hottest first 90º+ day comes in at 97º, which occurred in 1946 and 2019.

And if you were wondering, the average first 90º+ day is March 30th.

High pressure will build over Arizona later this week into the weekend, resulting in well above average high temperatures. The forecast high on Friday in Phoenix is currently 92º, which would make it the first time this year with a high of 90º+.

The average first 90º+ day is March 30th, with the earliest on record occurring on February 17th in 2016.

The good news if you don't like the heat, a slight chance of rain and cooler temperatures will move into the forecast at the start of next week!