April 2008 climate report for Tucson

...APRIL HIGHLIGHTS...
...22ND WARMEST APRIL ON RECORD...
...41ST DRIEST APRIL ON RECORD...

THE RESIDENTS OF THE TUCSON METRO AREA ARE USED TO ROLLER COASTER
RIDES IN TEMPERATURE...LITTLE RAIN...AND BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS
DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL. APRIL 2008 LIVED UP TO THAT REPUTATION.

AS MANY AS SIX WEATHER SYSTEMS MOVED THROUGH THE AREA DURING APRIL
WITH ONLY ONE HAVING ENOUGH MOISTURE TO PRODUCE SHOWERS. ISOLATED
SHOWERS OCCURRED ON THE 9TH WITH RAINFALL AMOUNTS LESS THAN A TENTH
OF AN INCH WITH MOST AREAS NOT SEEING A DROP OF RAIN.

THE MONTH STARTED OFF WITH DAYTIME HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S TO LOWER
80S AND ENDED WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S. DAILY LOW
TEMPERATURES GENERALLY RANGED FROM THE MID 40S TO THE MID 50 WITH A
COUPLE DAYS IN THE LOWER TO MID 60S. IN FACT...THE LOW TEMPERATURE
OF 65 DEGREES ON THE 14TH SET A NEW DAILY RECORD HIGH MINIMUM FOR
THAT DATE...BREAKING THE OLD RECORD OF 62 DEGREES SET IN 2006.

OVERALL...THE AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 68.3 DEGREES WAS 2.3
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 22ND WARMEST APRIL ON RECORD.
EXTREMES FOR THE MONTH RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 95 DEGREES ON THE 14TH
TO A LOW OF 42 DEGREES ON THE 11TH.

PAST 10 APRIL AVERAGE TEMPERATURES...
2008 ... 68.3          2003 ... 65.7
2007 ... 68.5          2002 ... 71.6
2006 ... 68.5          2001 ... 66.6
2005 ... 67.8          2000 ... 70.3
2004 ... 66.3          1999 ... 62.3
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 66.0
10 YEAR AVERAGE .... 67.6

MOST OF THE TUCSON METRO AREA DIDN'T RECORD ANY RAINFALL DURING THE
MONTH. AREAS THAT DID GET RAIN RECORDED LESS THAN A TENTH OF AN INCH
WITH THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDING FIVE-HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH.
THIS IS JUST UNDER A QUARTER OF AN INCH BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE
41ST DRIEST APRIL ON RECORD.

PAST 10 APRIL RAINFALL TOTALS...
2008 ... 0.05"          2003 ... 0.04"
2007 ... 0.15"          2002 ... 0.00"
2006 ... TRACE          2001 ... 0.84"
2005 ... 0.33"          2000 ... TRACE
2004 ... 1.05"          1999 ... 1.34"
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 0.28"
10 YEAR AVERAGE .... 0.38"

...APRIL 2008 STATS...         MONTH     NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        84.4      81.5        + 2.9
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        52.2      50.5        + 1.7
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             68.3      66.0        + 2.3
RAINFALL                        0.05"     0.28"      - 0.23"

THE AIRPORT HAS UNDER TWO INCHES /1.81"/ OF RAIN DURING THE FIRST
FOUR MONTHS OF 2008. THIS RANKS AS THE 35TH DRIEST FIRST FOUR
MONTHS ON RECORD (TIED WITH 1989 AND 1923). THE RECORD IS
ONE-HUNDREDTH OF AN INCH /0.01"/ WHICH OCCURRED IN 1972.

JAN 1ST TO APRIL 30TH RAINFALL TOTALS OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS...
2008 ... 1.81"          2003 ... 1.65"
2007 ... 1.49"          2002 ... 0.68"
2006 ... 0.41"          2001 ... 3.42"
2005 ... 3.32"          2000 ... 1.22"
2004 ... 3.42"          1999 ... 1.35"
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 2.96"
10 YEAR AVERAGE .... 1.88"

...2008 STATS THRU APRIL...     YEAR     NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        73.3      71.9        + 1.4
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        44.7      44.0        + 0.7
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             59.0      58.0        + 1.0
RAINFALL                        1.81"     2.96"      - 1.15"
WATER YEAR RAINFALL (OCT-APR)   3.39"     5.87"      - 2.48"

2007-2008 WATER YEAR RAINFALL TOTAL AT THE AIRPORT THROUGH THE END
OF APRIL RANKS AS THE 31ST DRIEST ON RECORD WITH UNDER THREE AND A
HALF INCHED BEING RECORDED AT THE AIRPORT. THIS IS TWO AND A HALF
INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND WITH FIVE MONTHS LEFT IN THE CURRENT WATER
YEAR PERIOD THE PROSPECTS OF HAVING THE FIRST ABOVE NORMAL WATER
YEAR SINCE 2000-2001 LOOKS RATHER GRIM. THE AIRPORT WILL HAVE TO
RECORD 8.78 INCHES OR MORE FROM MAY 1ST THRU SEPTEMBER 30TH FOR THE
WATER YEAR TO BE AT THE NORMAL TOTAL OF 12.17". LOOKING BACK AT THE
HISTORICAL RECORD...THIS HAS HAPPENED ONLY ELEVEN TIMES IN THE PAST
113 YEARS...OR 10 PERCENT OF THE TIME.

PAST 10 WATER YEAR RAINFALL TOTALS AT THE AIRPORT...
2007-2008 ... 3.39"          2002-2003 ... 3.02"
2006-2007 ... 2.34"          2001-2002 ... 2.02"
2005-2006 ... 0.73"          2000-2001 ... 9.77"
2004-2005 ... 5.09"          1999-2000 ... 1.22"
2003-2004 ... 4.99"          1998-1999 ... 2.71"
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 5.87"
10 YEAR AVERAGE .... 3.53" OR A 23.40" 10-YEAR DEFICIT
		                                           
...LOOKING AHEAD INTO MAY...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FORECASTS THAT THE MONTH OF MAY WILL
HAVE EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE...NORMAL...OR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES
AND ENHANCED PROBABILITIES OF BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL.

AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE ......... 90.4 DEGREES
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE .......... 58.6 DEGREES
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE ...... 74.5 DEGREES
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE .......... 111 DEGREES ON MAY 29 1910
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE ........... 32 DEGREES ON MAY 3 1899
WARMEST MAY (AVG) ................ 80.2 DEGREES IN 2000
COLDEST MAY (AVG) ................ 64.6 DEGREES IN 1905
NORMAL RAINFALL .................. 0.24 INCHES
WETTEST MAY DAY .................. 1.34 INCHES ON MAY 15 1931
WETTEST MAY ...................... 1.34 INCHES IN 1931
DRIEST MAY ....................... 0.00 INCHES IN 2002
                                     (LAST OF 22 OCCURRENCES)

THE NUMBER OF DAYLIGHT HOURS INCREASES FROM 13 HOURS 28 MINUTES ON THE
1ST TO 14 HOURS 7 MINUTES ON THE 31ST...A GAIN OF 39 MINUTES. 

GLUECK