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.

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.

Yuma only reached a high temperature of 70º this year on April 26th, which tied the record for the lowest high temperature for the day. The old record was set all the way back in 1932.

Keep in mind, the average high for this time of year is 89º.

Since 1896, there have only been 20 years in which the high has been 79º or lower on April 26th! And just in case you were wondering, the record high for the day is 104º, which was set in 2004 and tied again just last year (2020).

It was a toasty Easter Sunday in the Valley of the Sun, with Phoenix Sky Harbor hitting 98º. This tied the record high for the day, last set in 1961.

This high also ties as the third warmest Easter on record. The warmest was 1990, coming in with a high of 100º. Second place is 1936 with a high of 99º. And this year is tied with 1930.

Record-setting temperatures were spread across the northern portion of Arizona as well. Cottonwood reached a high of 84º, which broke the record for the day of 82º set back in 1961. Phantom Ranch hit 97º and Seligman reached 92º, which tied the records for the day both set in 1961.

The clouds that moved in later in the afternoon on Sunday were in response to a storm system that will brush the state to the north tomorrow. This system will help to weaken the high allowing temperatures to lower slightly to start the week.

A very strong ridge of high pressure has been anchored over the Southwest US the past few days, resulting in record temperatures across the region.

Phoenix Sky Harbor recorded a high of 97º on Saturday (April 3rd), which tied the record for the day, last set in 1943.

Another interesting fact is the average high temperature so far this month (April 1st-3rd) has been 95.3º, which will go down as the 2nd warmest start to April since records began. The record warmest first three days of April goes to the year 1943, with an average high of 95.7º.

The heat was not confined just to the Valley of the Sun, with Flagstaff coming in with a high of 71º, which also tied the record for the day last set in 1961.

Stay cool!

It felt a bit like early April in Phoenix today (Feb 2nd) as Sky Harbor's high temperature came in at 82º! That's 13º above average for the day and ties the record high set back in 1925!

This also marks the first 80º+ day of the year, which is only a day early compared to the 30-year average first day of Feb 3rd.

The earliest first 80º day of the year occurred on Jan 1st and has happened three times (1918, 1981, and 2012). The latest first 80º day was in 1973, when we held off until April 6th.

We all know the heat is coming sooner or later in Phoenix, but hopefully, we are not talking about the first 100º day for another couple of months!

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!

On December 9th, the high temperature was a warm 80º in Phoenix. One day later, on December 10th, the high temperature topped out at just 61º. That's a 19º drop in only one day, which sets the record as the largest one-day high-temperature drop in December for Phoenix. The old record was an 18º drop set back in 1928, when the temperature went from 71º on December 11th to 53º on December 12th.

How does this match up to the biggest temperature drop using all months? That record is a drop of 27º and has happened twice. In 1951, the high temperature went from 100º on August 26th down to 73º on August 27th. And in 1905, the high went from 77º on November 20th to 50º on November 21st. With that said, the 19º drop we just had will go down as the 9th all-time largest temperature drop.

If you were wondering, the largest temperature increase from one day over the next occurred back in 1989, when the high temperature went from 58º on January 1st to 79º on January 2nd. Looking at just December, the largest increase was back in 1968, with a temperature rise of 15º.

Ok, that's all the time we have for fun weather facts today!