It is exciting to announce that as of noon on March 28th, 2020, we now have a weather station located in Northeast Mesa (near Power and Brown).

You can view live weather information from this station at the following link:
[Live weather from NE Mesa Updated every minute]

You can also view the webcam here:
[View webcam along with current weather conditions]

This station will take the place of the one that was located in Northwest Mesa.

The high temperature at Phoenix Sky Harbor on March 27th came in at just 66º!

This year will now go down as the 5th coolest March 27th on record. The coldest was 58º, which was set in both 1920 and 1975.

Keep in mind the average for this time of year is 80º.

Cooler weather is forecast to stick around through the weekend; however, a warming trend will move into the forecast, with temperatures nearing the 90-degree mark by the middle of next week.

At around 4:30 am on Tuesday, Jan 21st, the first measurable rain of 2020 fell at Phoenix Sky Harbor! Phoenix measured 0.19 inches of rain for the day, which also happens to be the yearly total.

Out of 125 years of weather records in Phoenix, this is the 33rd time that the first day of measurable rain has occurred on or after January 21st. There have been a total of 11 years with no measurable rain in January.

There is some excellent news when it comes to drought across Arizona: it's improving!

The latest drought monitor update shows 50.54 percent of the state is not in any drought classification. Another 22.84 percent of the state is "Abnormally Dry," which indicates an area that is experiencing dry conditions but is not yet in drought.

With that said, moderate to severe drought still exists in the north/northeast portion of the state, and the National Drought Mitigation Center explains, " In the Four Corners states, the map depiction strives to balance the effect of the recent precipitation with the failure of the monsoon."

This "balance" can be seen looking at the departure from average rainfall graph for Phoenix Sky Harbor (below). From June 15th through September 30th (the monsoon), Phoenix only recorded 0.66 inches of rain, making it the 5th driest on record. At the start of the season (June 15th), the Valley was only 0.19 inches below average for the year, and by the end (September 30th), the gauge was 2.24 inches below average.

The dry weather continued through October before a major storm system moved through the state November 19th - 21st, with a storm total in Phoenix of 0.84 inches. Another strong storm moved through the region on November 28th and 29th, with another 0.71 inches falling at the airport.

While this Fall rain has helped and drought conditions are improving, Phoenix is still sitting 2.26 inches below average for the year when it comes to rain.

Fingers crossed for a wet end to 2019 (there's a chance)!

It was a busy morning on November 29th, as a strong cold front swept through the region. These storms even resulted in two tornado warnings for portions of the Phoenix Valley (see radar loop below).

The first tornado warning was issued for a storm near Scottsdale Airport at 4:01 am and expired at 4:15 am. The second tornado warning of the morning was issued at 4:44 am for a storm over San Tan Village Mall. This storm, with radar-indicated rotation, continued moving northeast over Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. The tornado warning was canceled at 4:56 am.

So, the big question: Just how rare are tornado warnings in Phoenix?

To answer this question, we pulled archived weather alerts for Maricopa and Pinal Counties from 1986 to current, from the online database provided through Iowa State University.

From 1986 to present (33 years), only 23 tornado warnings have been issued for Maricopa County and 13 for Pinal County.

So the answer is: Fairly rare!

Below is a list of dates that tornado warnings have been issued for Maricopa and Pinal counties.

List for Maricopa County:
Aug 29, 1987
Nov 1, 1987
Sep 3, 1990
Feb 13, 1992
Jan 17, 1993 - two warnings issued
Jan 18, 1993
Mar 13, 1996
Aug 14, 1997
Sept 7, 2002 - two warnings issued
Sept 6, 2003
Jan 4, 2005 - two warnings issued
Jan 29, 2005
Jan 21, 2010 - three warnings issued
Sept 10, 2011
July 1, 2016
Sept 23, 2019
Nov 29, 2019 - two warnings issued

List for Pinal County:
Nov 18, 1986
Jan 18, 1993
Mar 7, 1994
Sept 4, 1994
Aug 14, 1997
Sep 12, 1997
July 6, 1999
Jan 21, 2010
Sep 10, 2011 - two warnings issued
Jul 14, 2017 - two warnings issued
Nov 29, 2019 - two warnings issued

It's official, at approximately 1:55 pm (on November 19th), Phoenix Sky Harbor measured 0.01" of rain! This tip of the rain gauge broke the 53-day long dry streak in Phoenix, as the last measurable rain at the airport was back on September 26th.

This dry streak is nowhere near the record set in 1972, which stands at 160 days. No rain was measured from December 30th, 1971 to June 6th, 1972.

With that said, we are still well below average when it comes to rainfall this year. As of this morning (before the rain), Sky Harbor was sitting at 3.68" of rain for the year, which is 3.18" below the average year-to-date total of 6.86". The good news, the storm system moving through the state right now should help put a dent in this deficit.

Temperatures on Sunday afternoon in Phoenix are not going to feel like it's the middle of November, but like the middle of October. The forecast high this afternoon in Phoenix is 87º. Not only is this forecast high 12º above average, it would also tie the record high for the day set in 2008.

The main reason for these warm temperatures the past few weeks is high pressure. Currently, high pressure is building into the Southwest US as the low-pressure system that brought some high clouds to the region the past few days drifts southward off the coast of Baja.

The good news, these temperatures won't last long. The low off the coast of Baja will slowly move northeast into Arizona late Monday into Tuesday as another storm system drops down into the region from the Pacific Northwest. These two storms will bring rain chances to the Valley of the Sun Tuesday afternoon through Thursday, along with much cooler temperatures. In fact, by Wednesday through next weekend, temperatures are forecast to be in the 60s!

Stay tuned for more information about the rain chances mentioned above. For now, if you like the warm weather, enjoy today and tomorrow!

It was a dry monsoon, and so far, a dry fall. Phoenix, as of November 15th, is sitting at 3.68" of rain for the year, which is 3.11" below average. Most locations across the high country of Arizona are also running below average for the year. This means one thing: expanding drought.

Severe drought now covers 45.56% of the state, which is a 6% increase from just last week.

Even though drought is increasing, it is still better compared to what we were seeing last year at this same time. In November 2018, 4.33% of the state was in Exceptional Drought with 8.27% in Extreme Drought.

It is looking like a pattern shift will be taking shape next week, which could bring beneficial rain to the state. One storm will certainly not end the drought; however, anything will help!