It was a "cold" July weekend in Phoenix, with a high temperature of 83º on Friday and Saturday and a high of 81º on Sunday. This three-day streak broke the record for the most consecutive days with a high below 85º in July. The old record was two consecutive days set in 1955 and 1911.

This also breaks the record for the most number of 85º or below high temperatures recorded throughout the month. The old record was two days also set in 1955 and 1911.

The high temperature of 81º on Sunday was the coolest July day since July 24, 1955! Keep in mind the average high temperature for this time of year is right around 106º.

As of 4 pm, Phoenix Sky Harbor had measured 0.77 inches of rain since midnight. This break the record for the day of 0.41" set back in 2002.

This also brings the monsoon total to 1.52", which is 0.88" above the June 15 to July 23rd average and is just 0.14" less than Monsoon 2020 and Monsoon 2019 combined! During Monsoon 2020 only 1" of rain was measured and in Monsoon 2019 just 0.66" was all that fell.

Many of us were focused on the record-setting rain that moved through the Phoenix valley, but the temperatures were rather impressive as well!

The high temperature at Phoenix Sky Harbor on Friday , July 23rd was only 83º, which is the coolest July day since 1964! To put this into context, the average low temperature for this time of year is 85º, so the high temperature was even below the average low temperature! This is also only the 11th time since records began in 1896 that the high temperature has been at or below 83º during the month of July.

In case you were wondering, the coolest July day on record stands at 79º, which occurred on July 1, 1911.

Here is a list of all the other days in July with a high of 83º or less:
July 1, 1911: 79º
July 2, 1911: 82º
July 24, 1912: 82º
July 25, 1915: 81º
July 31, 1921: 82º
July 31, 1950: 80º
July 23, 1954: 82º
July 24, 1955: 80º
July 25, 1955: 83º
July 31, 1964: 83º
July 23, 2021: 83º

Strong thunderstorms developed over the Phoenix valley on the evening of July 3rd as outflows converged. While some portions of the Valley saw over an inch of rain, Phoenix Sky Harbor officially picked up 0.26", which broke a 94-year-old rainfall record for the day! The old record for the day was 0.22" set in 1927.

In case you are keeping track, this brings the 2021 Monsoon total to 0.43" (above the June 15th to July 4th average of 0.08") and the yearly total to 1.49" (below the year-to-date average of 3").

Since 1896, measurable rain has only been recorded on July 3rd eleven times.