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!