February 2007 climate report for Tucson

...FEBRUARY AND WINTER SEASON HIGHLIGHTS...
...33RD WARMEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD...
...13TH DRIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD...
...COLDEST WINTER SEASON SINCE 1997-98 WINTER...
...46TH COLDEST WINTER SEASON ON RECORD...
...31ST DRIEST WINTER SEASON ON RECORD...

A YEAR AGO AT THE END OF FEBRUARY...TUCSON WAS IN THE MIST OF ONE
OF ITS DRIEST PERIODS ON RECORD RESULTING IN EXTREME DROUGHT
CONDITIONS TO DEVELOP. A YEAR LATER...SHORT TERM DROUGHT CONDITIONS
ARE MODERATE...THANKS TO A VERY WET 2006 MONSOON...WHILE EL NINO
CONDITIONS IN THE PACIFIC ARE WANING. SO WHAT DID THIS MEAN TO
TUCSON WEATHER IN FEBRUARY AND THIS PAST WINTER SEASON? THE AVERAGE
MONTHLY TEMPERATURE FOR FEBRUARY WAS SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL WHILE
THE WINTER SEASON WAS BELOW NORMAL AND THE COLDEST SINCE THE
1997-1998 WINTER. PRECIPITATION WAS WELL BELOW NORMAL DURING FEBRUARY
AND THE WINTER SEASON.

THE AVERAGE FEBRUARY MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 55.4 DEGREES...WAS FOUR
TENTHS OF A DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 33RD WARMEST
FEBRUARY ON RECORD. TEMPERATURE EXTREMES RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 82
DEGREES ON THE 6TH TO A LOW OF 31 DEGREES ON THE 3RD. THE AIRPORT
ONLY RECORDED FOUR-HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH OF RAIN...WHICH RANKS AS
THE 13TH DRIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD.

FEBRUARY RAINFALL TOTALS SINCE 1998 (NORMAL 0.88")...
2007 ... 0.04"     2002 ... 0.27"
2006 ... TRACE     2001 ... 0.46"
2005 ... 1.27"     2000 ... 0.19"
2004 ... 0.45"     1999 ... TRACE
2003 ... 1.02"     1998 ... 3.20"

...FEBRUARY 2007 STATS...           MONTH     NORMAL    DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE             69.8      68.4       + 1.4
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE             41.0      41.6       - 0.6
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE                  55.4      55.0       + 0.4
RAINFALL                             0.04"     0.88"     - 0.84"

THE 2006-2007 WINTER SEASON AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 51.6 DEGREES WAS
THE COLDEST SINCE THE 1997-1998 WINTER SEASON...WHICH WAS THEN 
DRIVEN BY A VERY STRONG EL NINO. THIS PAST WINTER SEASON WAS ALSO
DRIVEN BY AN EL NINO...BUT IT WAS WEAK AND IT QUICKLY FADED AND DID
NOT PRODUCE THE AVERAGE TO ABOVE AVERAGE RAINFALL FOR THE AREA THAT
EL NINOS TYPICALLY DO. OFFICIALLY THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDED
1.37"...WHICH IS ONE AND A HALF INCHES BELOW NORMAL.

AVERAGE WINTER SEASON TEMPERATURE SINCE 1995...
1995-1996 ... 55.4       2001-2002 ... 52.5
1996-1997 ... 53.2       2002-2003 ... 54.5
1997-1998 ... 50.9       2003-2004 ... 53.9
1998-1999 ... 54.1       2004-2005 ... 54.3
1999-2000 ... 54.5       2005-2006 ... 55.7
2000-2001 ... 52.2       2006-2007 ... 51.6

WINTER SEASON RAINFALL SINCE 1995...
1995-1996 ... 1.04"      2001-2002 ... 1.21"
1996-1997 ... 1.60"      2002-2003 ... 1.74"
1997-1998 ... 6.25"      2003-2004 ... 1.34"
1998-1999 ... 0.46"      2004-2005 ... 3.33"
1999-2000 ... 0.29"      2005-2006 ... 0.01"
2000-2001 ... 1.70"      2006-2007 ... 1.37"

...WINTER 2006-2007 STATS...        SEASON    NORMAL    DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE             64.9      65.8       - 0.9
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE             38.2      39.9       - 1.7
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE                  51.6      52.9       - 1.3
RAINFALL (AIRPORT)                   1.37"     2.90"     - 1.53"

...2007 STATS THRU FEB...            2007    NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE             65.0     66.3        - 1.3
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE             38.6     40.2        - 1.6
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE                  51.8     53.3        - 1.5
RAINFALL                             0.75"    1.87"      - 1.12"
WATER YEAR RAINFALL (OCT-FEB)        1.64"    4.78"      - 3.14"

...LOOKING AHEAD INTO MARCH AND THE SPRING SEASON...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER PREDICTS NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES
AND ENHANCED PROBABILITIES OF BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL. THE SPRING
SEASON IS ALSO LOOKING AT ENHANCED PROBABILITIES OF ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND NEAR NORMAL RAINFALL.

MARCH NORMALS AND RECORDS...
NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURE .......... 73.3 DEGREES
NORMAL LOW TEMPERATURE............ 45.1 DEGREES
NORMAL MONTHLY TEMPERATURE ....... 59.2 DEGREES
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE ..........   99 DEGREES ON MARCH 26 1988
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE ...........   20 DEGREES ON MARCH  4 1965
WARMEST MARCH (AVG) .............. 65.0 DEGREES IN 1989 AND 1972
COLDEST MARCH (AVG) .............. 51.5 DEGREES IN 1973
NORMAL RAINFALL .................. 0.81 INCHES
WETTEST MARCH DAY ................ 1.42 INCHES ON MARCH 25 1903
WETTEST MARCH .................... 3.88 INCHES IN 1905
DRIEST MARCH ..................... ZERO INCHES IN 1984/1956/1933/1928
RECORD MARCH SNOWFALL ............  6.0 INCHES IN 1922

SPRING SEASON NORMALS AND RECORDS (MARCH THRU MAY)...
NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURE ......... 81.7 DEGREES
NORMAL LOW TEMPERATURE .......... 51.4 DEGREES
NORMAL SEASONAL TEMPERATURE ..... 66.5 DEGREES
WARMEST SPRING (AVG) ............. 72.0 DEGREES IN 1989
COLDEST SPRING (AVG) ............. 59.0 DEGREES IN 1905
NORMAL SPRING RAINFALL ........... 1.33 INCHES
WETTEST SPRING ................... 7.43 INCHES IN 1905
DRIEST SPRING .................... 0.01 INCH   IN 1959

THE NUMBER OF DAYLIGHT HOURS WILL INCREASE FROM 11 HOURS 30 MINUTES
ON THE FIRST TO 12 HOURS 29 MINUTES ON THE 31ST...A GAIN OF 59
MINUTES. THE VERNAL EQUINOX...OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE BEGINNING OF
SPRING...WILL BEGIN ON MARCH 20TH AT 5:07 PM WHEN THE SUN CROSSES
THE EQUATOR INTO THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE.

GLUECK