Archive for: January 2021 - WeatherBus.com

Record rainfall in Yuma

21 January 2021 - Posted in Weather Records by Weather Bus

Yuma is not known for being a rainy city, especially since the average rainfall for the year stands at just 3.56". But this week, there was an exception to that rule.

A cut-off area of low pressure sat just off the coast of Northern Baja for several days allowing moisture to increase across the region. By Wednesday, the atmosphere was primed, and with just a little energy from the low, several rounds of rain moved through the southwest corner of Arizona. By the end of the day on January 20th, Yuma measured 1.12" of rain, which broke the rainfall record for the day. The old record was 0.56" set back in 1933.

To put this into perspective, that's 31% of the city's average rainfall typically measured in a year. There have also been 16 years, since records began in 1876, that Yuma has not even recorded more than 1.12" in an entire year!

Certainly not complaining about the rain, as in the desert, we will take every drop we can get!

First measurable rain of 2021 in Phoenix!

19 January 2021 - Posted in Weather Facts by Weather Bus

On Tuesday, January 19th, at around 6:17 am, Phoenix Sky Harbor recorded its first measurable rain of 2021! The average first measurable rain for a year, using the 30-year average (1980-2010), is January 12th.

There have been 11 years since 1896 when measurable rain was recorded on January 1st, with the latest-ever first measurable rain in a year being June 7th set back in 1973. The second latest is May 29th set in 1937, and the third latest jumps to March 18th, recorded in 2012.

So has the first day of measurable rain in a year changed over time?

Of course, after all, you are dealing with the weather, which feeds directly into the climate. The graph below shows the first day of measurable rain (in Julian days) and the 30-year rolling average. As can be seen, the latest 30-year average was January 21st in the late 1930s, which was mainly influenced by 1937. The earliest average came in on January 10th in the early 2000s, and since that time, we have been on a slow increase, with the average (including this year) sitting at January 17th.

Something of note, there is no correlation between the first day of measurable rain in a year and the yearly rain total.

Measurable Rain In Phoenix

Phoenix hits a high of 67º for 4th day in a row

13 January 2021 - Posted in Weather Facts by Weather Bus

Do you like rare weather events? If so, Phoenix Sky Harbor just experienced one, and you likely didn't even know it!

The high today (Wednesday) in Phoenix was 67º, which is the 4th day in a row with a high temp of 67º. While it might not seem that rare at first glance, let's go to the numbers.

Out of 45,669 days of weather records (since Jan 1, 1986), this is only the 84th time there have been four or more consecutive days with the same high temperature. That's only 0.18% of days! The record stands at six days set in 1928 and 1953. In 1928, the high temperature was 71º from Dec 5th through Dec 10th, and in 1953, the high was 106º from Sept 5th through the 10th.

Phoenix: 2020 Weather Year in Review

02 January 2021 - Posted in Weather Facts by Weather Bus

No one will argue that 2020 was an interesting year, and the weather was no different. Here we will breakdown high temperatures, low temperatures, and precip stats for the year and how they compare to average. All data are from 1896 through 2020 (Phoenix long term record) and are referencing the year-long statistic.

Let's start with temperature stats!

Highest high temperature this year: 118º
(ties as the 4th warmest temperature on record)
Record Highest: 122º in 1990
Record lowest high: 109º in 1911

Lowest high temperature this year: 55º
(ties as 3rd warmest lowest high on record)
Record highest lowest high temperature: 58º in 1989
Record lowest high temperature: 36º in 1898

Average high temperature this year: 89.5º
(second warmest on record)
Record highest average high temperature: 89.8º in 1989
Record lowest average high temperature: 81.4º in 1913

Lowest low temperature this year: 35º
(ties as the 3rd warmest low temperature on record)
Record lowest low temperature: 16º in 1913
Record highest losest low temperature: 37º in 1986

Warmest low temperature this year: 94º
(ties as 3rd warmest high low temperature)
Warmest low temperature: 96º in 2003
Lowest high low temperature: 81º in 1915

Average low temperature this year: 64.9
(ties as 3rd warmest)
Highest average low temperature: 65.4 in 2014, 2015, 2017
Lowest average low temperature: 53.2 in 1917

And finally, some precipitation stats:

Total rainfall this year: 5.00"
(27th driest year on record)
Lowest rainfall: 2.82" in 1956 and 2002
Highest rainfall: 19.73" in 1905

Number of days with rain this year: 15
(record fewest - the old record was 18 in 2002)
Most days with rain: 74 in 1905

Most rain in one day this year: 1.04"
(ties as the 35th most)
Most rain in one day: 3.30" in 2014
Least most rain in one day: 0.42" in 1947

We will break down some of these stats in more detail in the next week or so.