.................... 2008 TUCSON WEATHER REVIEW ....................

...HIGHLIGHTS...
...14TH WARMEST AND 23RD DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD...
...10TH STRAIGHT YEAR OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES...
...8TH STRAIGHT YEAR OF BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL...
...1ST RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE SET IN OCTOBER SINCE 1971...

THE RESIDENTS OF THE TUCSON METRO AREA EXPERIENCED YET ANOTHER WARM
AND DRY YEAR...ALTHOUGH IT WAS SOMEWHAT COOLER THAN THE PAST THREE
YEARS. LA NINA CONDITIONS...WHICH STARTED THE YEAR IN MODERATE
STATUS...WEAKENED DURING APRIL...THEN TRANSITIONED TO ENSO NEUTRAL
STATUS IN JUNE AND REMAINED IN THIS STATUS AT THE END OF THE YEAR.

TEMPERATURE...

THE AVERAGE YEARLY TEMPERATURE FOR 2008 OF 70.0 DEGREES WAS 1.3
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 14TH WARMEST YEAR (TIED WITH
2002 AND 2000) ON RECORD. THIS MARKS THE 10TH STRAIGHT YEAR THAT THE
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE HAS BEEN ABOVE NORMAL. IN FACT...DATING BACK TO
1984 ONLY ONE YEAR (1998 68.1 DEGREES) HAS BEEN BELOW NORMAL.

LAST 10 YEARLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES / ALL-TIME RANKING...
YEAR .....  TEMP     RANKING       YEAR .....  TEMP     RANKING
2008 ..... 70.0 F  14TH WARMEST    2003 ..... 70.7 F   4TH WARMEST 
2007 ..... 70.5 F   8TH WARMEST    2002 ..... 70.0 F  14TH WARMEST
2006 ..... 70.2 F  11TH WARMEST    2001 ..... 69.7 F  20TH WARMEST
2005 ..... 70.8 F   3RD WARMEST    2000 ..... 70.0 F  14TH WARMEST
2004 ..... 69.3 F  26TH WARMEST    1999 ..... 69.6 F  21ST WARMEST
1971-2000 NORMAL ..... 68.7 F
 5 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 70.2 F
10 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 70.1 F
20 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 70.0 F

THE AVERAGE YEARLY HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR 2008 OF 83.7 DEGREES WAS
1.2 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.

LAST 10 YEARLY AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURES / ALL-TIME RANKING...
YEAR .....  TEMP     RANKING       YEAR .....  TEMP     RANKING
2008 ..... 83.7 F  29TH WARMEST    2003 ..... 84.4 F  12TH WARMEST
2007 ..... 84.1 F  17TH WARMEST    2002 ..... 84.2 F  16TH WARMEST
2006 ..... 83.9 F  21ST WARMEST    2001 ..... 83.5 F  32ND WARMEST
2005 ..... 84.0 F  19TH WARMEST    2000 ..... 84.0 F  19TH WARMEST
2004 ..... 82.3 F  42ND COLDEST    1999 ..... 84.4 F  12TH WARMEST
1971-2000 NORMAL ..... 82.5 F
 5 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 83.6 F
10 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 83.9 F
20 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 84.1 F

THE MOST CONSECUTIVE DAYS THAT TUCSON HAD A HIGH OF 100 DEGREES OR
BETTER IN 2008 WAS 14 DAYS (JUNE 13 TO JUNE 26). THIS IS THE LOWEST
YEARLY NUMBER OF CONSECUTIVE DAYS SINCE 2004.

PAST 10 YEARLY LONGEST CONSECUTIVE DAYS WITH HIGH OF 100 DEGREES OR 
BETTER...

2008.... 14 DAYS
2007.... 37 DAYS  3RD LONGEST
2006.... 17 DAYS 38TH LONGEST (TIED WITH 1960 AND 1953)
2005.... 39 DAYS ALL-TIME RECORD LONGEST (TIED WITH 1987)
2004....  7 DAYS
2003.... 22 DAYS 16TH LONGEST
2002.... 33 DAYS  4TH LONGEST
2001....  8 DAYS
2000.... 22 DAYS 16TH LONGEST
1999.... 10 DAYS

ALTHOUGH 2008 WAS NEAR THE HISTORICAL AVERAGE (1895-2007) OF 15
CONSECUTIVE DAYS...IT IS WELL BELOW THE LATEST 10 YEAR CONSECUTIVE
AVERAGE OF 21 DAYS AND 5 YEAR CONSECUTIVE AVERAGE OF 24 DAYS. 

THE AVERAGE YEARLY LOW TEMPERATURE FOR 2008 OF 56.2 DEGREES WAS 1.4
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 10TH WARMEST ON RECORD.

LAST 10 YEARLY AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURES / ALL-TIME RANKING...
YEAR .....  TEMP     RANKING       YEAR .....  TEMP     RANKING
2008 ..... 56.2 F  10TH WARMEST    2003 ..... 57.0 F   2ND WARMEST
2007 ..... 56.9 F   3RD WARMEST    2002 ..... 55.9 F  17TH WARMEST
2006 ..... 56.6 F   5TH WARMEST    2001 ..... 56.0 F  14TH WARMEST
2005 ..... 57.5 F    WARMEST       2000 ..... 56.0 F  14TH WARMEST
2004 ..... 56.2 F  10TH WARMEST    1999 ..... 54.9 F  30TH WARMEST
1971-2000 NORMAL ..... 54.8 F
 5 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 56.7 F
10 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 56.3 F
20 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 56.0 F

TEMPERATURE EXTREMES FOR 2008 RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 111 DEGREES ON
JUNE 21ST TO A LOW OF 26 DEGREES ON DECEMBER 28TH. THE MERCURY REACHED
OR EXCEEDED 100 DEGREES ON 50 DAYS WITH THE 1971-2000 AVERAGE BEING 55
DAYS. THE MERCURY HIT OR DIPPED BELOW FREEZING ON 12 DAYS WITH THE
1971-2000 AVERAGE BEING 11 DAYS. THE DAILY LOW TEMPERATURE WAS IN THE
20S ON 6 DAYS...WHICH IS RIGHT AT THE 1971-2000 AVERAGE. THE DAILY LOW
TEMPERATURE WAS 80 DEGREES OR WARMER ON 2 DAYS WITH THE 1971-2000
AVERAGE BEING 4 DAYS. THIS IS THE LEAST YEARLY TOTAL SINCE ZERO WAS
RECORDED IN 1999. IN THE PREVIOUS THREE YEARS THE AIRPORT HAD RECORDED
36 DAYS FOR AN AVERAGE OF 12 PER YEAR.

10 DAILY TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET OR TIED IN 2008
(1 HIGH...1 LOW...3 LOW MAXIMUMS AND 5 HIGH MINIMUMS).

TYPE      DATE          NEW RECORD    OLD RECORD
HIGH MIN  JANUARY 6         55         54 / 2006
HIGH MIN  APRIL 14          65         62 / 2006
HIGH      JUNE 17          109 (TIED) 109 / 1989|1985|1917
LOW HIGH  JULY 10           86 (TIED)  86 / 1930
LOW HIGH  JULY 11           89 (TIED)  89 / 1992|1949|1919
LOW       OCTOBER 13        38         43 / 1931
LOW HIGH  OCTOBER 13        72         73 / 1957
HIGH MIN  OCTOBER 28        65 (TIED)  65 / 1943
HIGH MIN  NOVEMBER 21       55 (TIED)  55 / 1936
HIGH MIN  NOVEMBER 25       55         54 / 1990

THE ONE RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE THAT WAS TIED IN 2008 IS THE LEAST
AMOUNT SINCE ZERO WERE SET IN 1973.

LEAST AMOUNT OF DAILY RECORD HIGHS SET/TIED IN A CALENDAR YEAR:
1) 0 DAYS - 1973|1966|1964|1961|1941
2) 1 DAY  - 2008|1977|1976|1975|1974

THE RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE OF 38 DEGREES ON OCTOBER 13TH IS THE FIRST
RECORD LOW SET/TIED IN OCTOBER SINCE 1971. ALSO IT WAS THE FIRST TIME
A DAILY OCTOBER LOW WAS IN THE 30S SINCE OCTOBER 26 1996 (38F).

THE COMBINED TOTAL OF ONLY 10 DAILY RECORDS BEING SET OR TIED IN 2008
IS THE LOWEST SINCE 9 WERE SET IN 1983 (3 HIGHS...0 LOWS...2 LOW
MAXIMUMS AND 4 HIGH MINIMUMS).

LEAST AMOUNT OF COMBINED TOTAL OF DAILY RECORDS SET/TIED IN A YEAR:
1)  6 IN 1982 (2 HIGHS...0 LOWS...3 LOW MAXS...1 HIGH MINS)
2)  9 IN 1983 (3 HIGHS...0 LOWS...2 LOW MAXS...4 HIGH MINS)
    9 IN 1973 (0 HIGHS...1 LOWS...7 LOW MAXS...1 HIGH MINS)
3) 10 IN 2008 (1 HIGHS...1 LOWS...3 LOW MAXS...5 HIGH MINS)
   10 IN 1975 (1 HIGHS...1 LOWS...8 LOW MAXS...0 HIGH MINS)

RAINFALL...

RAINFALL ACROSS THE METRO AREA FOR 2008 VARIED WIDELY AND RANGED
FROM 6 TO 16 INCHES ON THE VALLEY FLOOR WITH 25 TO 40 INCHES IN THE
CATALINA AND RINCON MOUNTAINS. FOR THE 8TH STRAIGHT YEAR...THE
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDED BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL WITH ONLY 8.67"
BEING RECORDED.

THREE DAILY RAINFALL RECORDS WERE SET DURING 2008...

DATE      RECORD       OLD RECORD/YEAR    MONTHLY RANK
FEB. 15    0.94"         0.49"/1931        8TH WETTEST DAY
JUL. 11    1.73"         0.90"/1919       11TH WETTEST DAY
DEC. 23    0.64"         0.58"/1914       

LAST 10 YEARLY RAINFALL TOTALS / ALL-TIME RANKING...
YEAR ..... RAINFALL RANKING        YEAR ..... RAINFALL RANKING
2008 .....   8.67"  23RD DRIEST    2003 .....  10.05"  46TH DRIEST
2007 .....   9.78"  39TH DRIEST    2002 .....   7.83"  15TH DRIEST
2006 .....  11.81"  44TH WETTEST   2001 .....   7.81"  14TH DRIEST
2005 .....   9.57"  34TH DRIEST    2000 .....  12.44"  36TH WETTEST
2004 .....   7.60"  11TH DRIEST    1999 .....   9.68"  36TH DRIEST
1971-2000 NORMAL ..... 12.17"
 5 YEAR AVERAGE ......  9.49"
10 YEAR AVERAGE ......  9.53" OR A TEN YEAR DEFICIT OF 26.46"
20 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 10.82"

THE 2008 MONSOON WAS ANOTHER ACTIVE ONE...THE FOURTH IN A ROW...AS
RAINFALL TOTAL VARIED WIDELY ACROSS THE METRO AREA. TOTALS RANGED
FROM TWO TO TWELVE INCHES AT/NEAR THE VALLEY FLOOR WITH 12 TO 24
INCHES OF RAIN BEING RECORDED IN THE CATALINA AND RINCON MOUNTAINS.

PAST 10 MONSOON RAINFALL TOTALS / ALL-TIME TOP 50 RANKING...
YEAR ... RAINFALL  RANKING         YEAR ... RAINFALL  RANKING
2008 ...   5.52"                   2003 ...   6.70"   41ST WETTEST
2007 ...   6.57"   42ND WETTEST    2002 ...   5.78"   
2006 ...  10.20"    6TH WETTEST    2001 ...   2.81"   10TH DRIEST
2005 ...   5.30"   47TH DRIEST     2000 ...   4.87"   41ST DRIEST 
2004 ...   2.42"    4TH DRIEST     1999 ...   8.33"   13TH WETTEST
1971-2000 NORMAL ..... 6.06"
 5 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 6.00"
10 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 5.85"
20 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 5.71"

THE 2007-2008 WATER YEAR (OCTOBER 1ST THRU SEPTEMBER 30TH) CONTINUED
THE TREND OF BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL THAT STARTED BACK IN 2001. THE
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDED ONLY 8.93" WHICH IS OVER THREE INCHES
BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 27TH DRIEST WATER YEAR ON RECORD.

LAST 10 WATER YEAR RAINFALL TOTALS / ALL-TIME TOP 50 RANKING...
 SEASON      RAINFALL RANKING       SEASON      RAINFALL RANKING
2007-2008 ...  8.93"  27TH DRIEST  2002-2003 ...  9.85"  41ST DRIEST
2006-2007 ...  9.09"  29TH DRIEST  2001-2002 ...  7.80"  17TH DRIEST
2005-2006 ... 11.24"               2000-2001 ... 12.82"  35TH WETTEST
2004-2005 ... 11.02"               1999-2000 ...  6.09"   5TH DRIEST
2003-2004 ...  7.42"  13TH DRIEST  1998-1999 ... 11.04"  
1971-2000 NORMAL ..... 12.17"
 5 YEAR AVERAGE ......  9.54"
10 YEAR AVERAGE ......  9.53"
20 YEAR AVERAGE ...... 10.90"

DROUGHT CONDITIONS...
CONDITIONS FLUCTUATED BETWEEN NO SHORT TERM DROUGHT AND ABNORMALLY
DRY DURING 2008. AS THE YEAR CLOSED...THE AREA WAS CLASSIFIED AS
BEING IN NO SHORT TERM DROUGHT. HOWEVER...LONG TERM DROUGHT
CONDITIONS STILL REMAIN WITH THE AREA OVER 2 FEET BELOW NORMAL
IN THE PAST 10 YEARS.

DETAILED INDIVIDUAL MONTHLY REPORTS FOR 2008 ARE AVAILABLE ON OUR
WEBSITE AT: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc/climate/reports.php

...MONTHLY STATISTICS FOR 2008...
           AVG HIGH  DEP  AVG LOW  DEP  AVG TEMP  DEP  PRECIP  DEP
JANUARY      63.6   -0.9    39.8  +0.9    51.7    0.0   0.17" -0.82"
FEBRUARY     69.3   +0.9    41.2  -0.4    55.3   +0.3   1.22" +0.34"
MARCH        76.0   +2.7    45.7  +0.6    60.9   +1.7   0.37" -0.44"
APRIL        84.4   +2.9    52.2  +1.7    68.3   +2.3   0.05" -0.23"
MAY          88.5   -1.9    58.0  -0.6    73.3   -1.2   0.02" -0.22"
JUNE        102.5   +2.3    71.5  +3.5    87.0   +2.9   0.16" -0.08"
JULY         96.9   -2.7    74.3  +0.9    85.6   -0.9   3.42" +1.35"
AUGUST       96.8   -0.6    74.0  +1.6    85.4   +0.5   1.70" -0.60"
SEPTEMBER    95.0   +1.0    69.7  +2.0    82.4   +1.5   0.24" -1.21"
OCTOBER      88.3   +4.3    57.5  +0.5    72.9   +2.4   TRACE -1.21"
NOVEMBER     77.0   +4.7    48.9  +3.0    63.0   +4.3   0.27" -0.40"
DECEMBER     66.5   +1.9    41.0  +1.8    53.7   +1.8   1.03"  0.00"
--------     ----   ----    ----  ----    ----   ----   ----- ------
2008         83.7   +1.2    56.2  +1.4    70.0   +1.3   8.67" -3.50"

...SEASON BY SEASON HIGHLIGHTS OF 2008...
WINTER 2007-2008...2ND STRAIGHT COOLER THAN NORMAL WINTER.
SPRING 2008.....27TH WARMEST AND 24TH DRIEST ON RECORD.
SUMMER 2008.....16TH WARMEST AND 40TH WETTEST ON RECORD.
FALL 2008.......6TH WARMEST AND 6TH DRIEST ON RECORD.
MONSOON 2008....17TH WARMEST AND 53RD DRIEST ON RECORD.
WATER YEAR (OCT. 2007 - SEP. 2008)...27TH DRIEST ON RECORD.

OUTLOOK FOR 2009...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FORECAST FOR 2009 IS FOR YET ANOTHER
YEAR OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. ENSO NEUTRAL OR LA NINA LIKE
CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST DURING THE FIRST HALF OF 2009. ON THE
RAINFALL SIDE...EACH MONTH HAS AN EQUAL CHANCE OF EITHER BEING BELOW
OR ABOVE NORMAL. BASED ON PAST HISTORY...BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL IS
PROBABLY THE BETTER FORECAST.

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

THIS YEARLY REPORT IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE AT:
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc/climate/monthly/2008.php

GLUECK