.................... 2006 TUCSON WEATHER REVIEW ....................

...HIGHLIGHTS...
...10TH WARMEST AND 44TH WETTEST YEAR ON RECORD...
...HIGHEST YEARLY RAINFALL TOTAL SINCE 2000...
...ANNUAL MONSOON BEGAN ON JUNE 28TH...
...ALL-TIME WARMEST LOW MINIMUM TEMPERATURE BROKEN IN JULY...
...MANY DRIEST MONTHLY RAINFALL PERIODS SET...
...DROUGHT STATUS PEAKS AT EXTREME IN JUNE...

THE RESIDENTS OF THE TUCSON METRO AREA EXPERIENCED ONE OF THE DRIEST
PERIODS ON RECORD DURING THE FIRST HALF OF 2006...THEN THE 6TH
WETTEST MONSOON ON RECORD...AND THEN ANOTHER EXTENDED DRY PERIOD TO
CLOSE OUT THE YEAR. TEMPERATURE WISE...IT WAS ANOTHER WARM YEAR WITH
THE ALL-TIME RECORD LOW MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OCCURRING ON JULY 22ND.

RAINFALL...

THE YEAR STARTED OFF LIKE 2005 ENDED...DRY...WITH LITTLE TO NO
MEASURABLE RAIN BEING RECORDED IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY. THE YEAR
BEGAN WITH THE AREA UNDER MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS AND AS THE DRY
PERIOD CONTINUED INTO FEBRUARY...DROUGHT STATUS WAS DOWNGRADED TO
SEVERE. AS THE DRY SPELL ENTERED ITS SEVENTH MONTH IN MARCH...THE
AREAS DROUGHT STATUS WAS FURTHER DOWNGRADED TO EXTREME. A LITTLE BIT
OF RAIN OCCURRED DURING MARCH BUT OVERALL THE MONTH WAS STILL BELOW
NORMAL. DROUGHT CONDITIONS REMAINED EXTREME DURING APRIL AND MAY BUT
DETERIORATED TO EXCEPTIONAL JUST SOUTH AND EAST OF THE AREA AS LITTLE
TO NO RAIN WAS RECORDED IN APRIL AND MAY. THIS AREA OF EXCEPTIONAL
DROUGHT CONDITIONS SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA DURING JUNE AS SOUTHEAST
ARIZONA ENTERED ITS TENTH MONTH OF DRYNESS. BEFORE RELIEF CAME WITH
THE START OF THE ANNUAL THUNDERSTORM SEASON ON JUNE 28TH...MANY LOW
MONTHLY PERIOD PRECIPITATION RECORDS WERE SET DURING THE 10 MONTH DRY
PERIOD. THEY ARE:

DRIEST DECEMBER TO JANUARY PERIOD ..... 0.01"
DRIEST NOVEMBER TO JANUARY PERIOD ..... 0.01"
DRIEST SEPTEMBER TO JANUARY PERIOD .... 0.38"
DRIEST DECEMBER TO FEBRUARY PERIOD .... 0.01"
DRIEST NOVEMBER TO FEBRUARY PERIOD  ... 0.01"
DRIEST SEPTEMBER TO FEBRUARY PERIOD ... 0.38"
DRIEST SEPTEMBER TO MARCH PERIOD ...... 0.78"
DRIEST SEPTEMBER TO APRIL PERIOD ...... 0.79"
DRIEST SEPTEMBER TO MAY PERIOD ........ 0.78"

THE MONSOON BROUGHT SHORT TERM RELIEF DURING EARLY JULY WITH DROUGHT
STATUS BEING UPGRADED TO EXTREME. FURTHER RELIEF CAME TOWARD THE END
OF JULY...AS AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE PARKED IN NORTHWEST MEXICO
BROUGHT STORMS INTO THE AREA FROM THE NORTH NORTHWEST AND DURING THE
OVERNIGHT PERIODS. HEAVY RAIN FELL ACROSS THE METRO BETWEEN THE 27TH
AND 31ST WITH THE HEAVIEST RAIN OCCURRING ON THE 31ST WHICH LED TO
SIGNIFICANT FLOW ON THE AREAS WASHES...CREEKS AND RIVERS. THE
MONSOON REMAINED ACTIVE THROUGH AUGUST BEFORE WEAKENING AND FINALLY
ENDING DURING SEPTEMBER. THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDED 10.20
INCHES OF RAIN DURING THE 2006 MONSOON WHICH RANKED AS THE 6TH
WETTEST ON RECORD.

TEN WETTEST MONSOON SEASONS ON RECORD...
1) 13.84" ... 1964     6) 10.20" ... 2006 **
2) 13.08" ... 1955     7)  9.94" ... 1984
3) 11.04" ... 1921     8)  9.85" ... 1990
4) 10.50" ... 1983     9)  9.43" ... 1966
5) 10.21" ... 1919    10)  8.54" ... 1954

AS USUAL...MONSOON RAINFALL TOTALS VARIED WIDELY ACROSS THE METRO
AREA. TOTALS RANGED FROM SIX TO THIRTEEN INCHES AT/NEAR THE VALLEY
FLOOR WITH ONE TO TWO FEET!! OF RAIN (12-24 INCHES) BEING RECORDED
IN THE CATALINA AND RINCON MOUNTAINS. THE LAST THREE MONTHS OF 2006
WAS DRIER THAN NORMAL AS THE AREA ENDURED THROUGH ANOTHER DRY PERIOD.

RAINFALL ACROSS THE METRO AREA FOR 2006 RANGED FROM 8 TO 15 INCHES
ON THE VALLEY FLOOR TO 18 TO 30 INCHES IN THE CATALINA AND RINCON
MOUNTAINS. OVERALL THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDED SLIGHTLY UNDER
TWELVE INCHES /11.81"/ WHICH IS THE MOST SINCE 2000. ONLY ONE DAILY
RAINFALL RECORD WAS SET DURING 2006 (1.90" ON JULY 31ST).

YEARLY RAINFALL SINCE 1995 (NORMAL IS 12.17")...
2006 ..... 11.81"      2000 ..... 12.44"
2005 .....  9.57"      1999 .....  9.68"
2004 .....  7.62"      1998 ..... 13.62"
2003 ..... 10.05"      1997 ..... 10.56"
2002 .....  7.84"      1996 ..... 10.50"
2001 .....  7.81"      1995 ..... 11.18"

TEMPERATURE...

THE AVERAGE YEARLY TEMPERATURE FOR 2006 OF 70.2 DEGREES WAS 1.5
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 10TH WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD.
THE AVERAGE YEARLY HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR 2006 OF 83.9 DEGREES WAS 1.5
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE AVERAGE YEARLY LOW TEMPERATURE FOR 2006 OF
56.6 DEGREES WAS 1.8 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 4TH
WARMEST ON RECORD (TIED WITH 1996 AND 1978). TEMPERATURE EXTREMES FOR
2006 RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 110 DEGREES ON JULY 21ST TO A LOW OF 26
DEGREES ON DECEMBER 20TH. THE MERCURY REACHED OR EXCEEDED 100
DEGREES 50 TIMES...THE LEAST AMOUNT SINCE 39 WAS RECORDED IN 1999.

THE LOW TEMPERATURE OF 89 DEGREES ON JULY 22ND BROKE THE ALL-TIME
WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE OF 88 DEGREES WHICH OCCURRED ON JULY 11 1934.
IT WAS BELOW FREEZING ONLY TWELVE TIMES. 18 DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORDS
WERE SET OR TIED IN 2006 (4 HIGHS...1 LOW...3 LOW MAXIMUM AND 10 HIGH
MINIMUMS).

YEARLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES SINCE 1995 (NORMAL IS 68.7 F)...
YEAR .....  TEMP     RANKING       YEAR .....  TEMP     RANKING
2006 ..... 70.2 F  10TH WARMEST    2000 ..... 70.0 F  13TH WARMEST
2005 ..... 70.8 F   3RD WARMEST    1999 ..... 69.6 F  19TH WARMEST
2004 ..... 69.3 F  24TH WARMEST    1998 ..... 68.1 F  46TH WARMEST
2003 ..... 70.7 F   4TH WARMEST    1997 ..... 69.8 F  15TH WARMEST
2002 ..... 70.0 F  13TH WARMEST    1996 ..... 70.6 F   6TH WARMEST
2001 ..... 69.7 F  17TH WARMEST    1995 ..... 70.3 F   9TH WARMEST

DETAILED INDIVIDUAL MONTHLY REPORTS FOR 2006 ARE AVAILABLE ON OUR
WEBSITE AT: 
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc/climate/reports.php

...MONTHLY STATISTICS FOR 2006...
           AVG HIGH  DEP  AVG LOW  DEP  AVG TEMP  DEP  PRECIP  DEP
JANUARY      69.6   +5.0    39.6  +0.6    54.6   +2.9   TRACE -0.99"
FEBRUARY     73.2   +4.8    43.4  +1.8    58.3   +3.3   TRACE -0.88"
MARCH        71.6   -1.7    45.8  +0.7    58.7   -0.5   0.41" -0.40"
APRIL        83.5   +2.0    53.5  +3.0    68.5   +2.5   TRACE -0.28"
MAY          94.5   +4.1    63.5  +4.9    79.0   +4.5   TRACE -0.24"
JUNE        102.4   +2.2    74.3  +6.3    88.4   +4.3   0.50" +0.26"
JULY         99.7   +0.1    76.9  +3.5    88.3   +1.8   5.40" +3.33"
AUGUST       94.0   -3.4    73.4  +1.0    83.7   -1.2   3.01" +0.71"
SEPTEMBER    90.6   -3.4    66.4  -1.3    78.5   -2.4   1.60" +0.15"
OCTOBER      83.8   -0.2    56.6  -0.4    70.2   -0.3   0.27" -0.94"
NOVEMBER     78.8   +6.5    47.2  +2.1    63.0   +4.3   TRACE -0.67"
DECEMBER     64.8   +0.2    37.3  -1.9    51.1   -0.8   0.62" -0.41"
--------     ----   ----    ----  ----    ----   ----   ----- ------
2006         83.9   +1.4    56.6  +1.8    70.2   +1.5  11.81" -0.36"

...SEASON BY SEASON HIGHLIGHTS OF 2006...
WINTER 2005-2006...DRIEST AND 3RD WARMEST ON RECORD.
SPRING 2006.....13TH WARMEST AND 19TH DRIEST ON RECORD.
SUMMER 2006.....2ND WETTEST AND 6TH WARMEST ON RECORD.
FALL 2006.......ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL.
MONSOON 2006....6TH WETTEST ON RECORD WITH AN EARLY START.
WATER YEAR (OCT. 2005 - SEP. 2006)...BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL OF 11.24"

OUTLOOK FOR 2007...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER IS FORECASTING THAT EL NINO CONDITIONS
WILL PREVAIL UNTIL THE SPRING. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR NORMAL
DURING THROUGH MARCH...THEN INCREASED PROBABILITIES OF ABOVE NORMAL
THROUGH THE REST OF THE YEAR. DUE TO EL NINO CONDITIONS...THERE ARE
INCREASED PROBABILITIES OF ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL THROUGH APRIL. NEAR
NORMAL RAINFALL IS THEN EXPECTED DURING THE REST OF THE YEAR.

AVERAGE YEARLY HIGH TEMPERATURE .... 82.5 DEGREES
AVERAGE YEARLY LOW TEMPERATURE...... 54.8 DEGREES
AVERAGE YEARLY TEMPERATURE ......... 68.7 DEGREES
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE ............  117 DEGREES ON JUNE 26 1990
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE .............    6 DEGREES ON JANUARY 7 1913
WARMEST YEAR (AVG) ................. 71.4 DEGREES IN 1989
COLDEST YEAR (AVG) ................. 65.0 DEGREES IN 1912
NORMAL RAINFALL .................... 12.17 INCHES
WETTEST DAY ........................  3.93 INCHES ON JULY 29 1958
WETTEST YEAR ....................... 24.17 INCHES IN 1905
DRIEST YEAR ........................  5.07 INCHES IN 1924

GLUECK