February 2008 climate report for Tucson

...FEBRUARY AND WINTER SEASON HIGHLIGHTS...
...37TH WARMEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD...
...27TH WETTEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD...
...DAILY RECORD RAINFALL ON THE 15TH...
...8TH WETTEST FEBRUARY DAY ON RECORD...
...2ND STRAIGHT COOLER THAN NORMAL WINTER SEASON...

FEBRUARY 2008 HAD ITS USUAL ROLLER COASTER RIDE IN TEMPERATURES
WHICH EVENTUALLY LED TO A SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL MONTH. PRECIPITATION
WAS ABOVE NORMAL WITH A STORM SYSTEM ON THE 15TH/16TH BRINGING THE
BULK OF THE MONTHLY TOTALS.

THE MONTH STARTED OFF COOLER THAN NORMAL...WHICH WAS THE STORY FOR
MOST OF THE 2007-2008 WINTER SEASON. A STORM SYSTEM AFFECTED THE AREA
ON THE 4TH AND 5TH PRODUCING VALLEY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW WITH HIGH
TEMPERATURES BEING IN THE 50S. HIGH PRESSURE BUILT OVER THE AREA
BETWEEN THE 7TH AND 14TH...RESULTING IN HIGH TEMPERATURES BEING IN
THE 70S AND OVERNIGHT LOWS GENERALLY IN THE 40S.

THE STRONGEST...COLDEST AND WETTEST STORM OF FEBRUARY AFFECTED THE
AREA ON THE 15TH AND 16TH. THIS STORM ORIGINATED FROM WESTERN CANADA
AND DROPPED SOUTH ACROSS THE WESTERN UNITED STATES BEFORE BECOMING A
CUT-OFF LOW OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. THIS TRACK IS NORMALLY A DRY
ONE FOR OUR AREA...BUT THIS SYSTEM PICKED UP SOME MARINE LAYER
MOISTURE AND SPREAD IT ACROSS THE AREA. TWO-DAY RAINFALL TOTALS WERE
IN THE ONE TO TWO INCH RANGE WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS NEAR THE MOUNTAINS.
THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDED 0.94" ON THE 15TH WHICH SHATTERED
THE DAILY RECORD OF 0.49" SET IN 1931. THE TOTAL ON THE 15TH ALSO
RANKS AS THE 8TH WETTEST FEBRUARY DAY ON RECORD (TIED WITH FEB. 6TH
1905). ALTHOUGH THE OFFICIAL HIGH TEMPERATURE ON THE 15TH WAS 51
DEGREES...IT OCCURRED AT 2:47 AM...THE DAYTIME TEMPERATURES WERE IN
THE UPPER 30S TO LOWER 40S WITH SNOW BEING REPORTED IN THE FOOTHILLS.

A WEAK DISTURBANCE MOVED THROUGH THE AREA ON 22ND...BRINGING
SCATTERED LIGHT SHOWERS AND SOME BREEZES. THE MONTH ENDED UP WARM
WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES GENERALLY IN THE UPPER 70S TO LOWER 80S.

OVERALL...THE AVERAGE FEBRUARY TEMPERATURE OF 55.3 DEGREES WAS THREE
TENTHS OF A DEGREE ABOVE NORMAL. EXTREME TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM A
HIGH OF 84 DEGREES ON THE 24TH AND 28TH TO A LOW OF 29 DEGREES ON THE
6TH.

...FEBRUARY 2008 STATS...           MONTH     NORMAL    DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE             69.3      68.4       + 0.9
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE             41.2      41.6       - 0.4
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE                  55.3      55.0       + 0.3
RAINFALL                             1.22"     0.88"     + 0.34"

RAINFALL AMOUNTS ACROSS THE METRO AREA DURING FEBRUARY WAS GENERALLY
BETWEEN ONE AND TWO INCHES WITH THE AIRPORT OFFICIALLY RECORDING JUST
UNDER AN INCH AND A QUARTER /1.22"/. THIS RANKS AS THE 27TH WETTEST
FEBRUARY ON RECORD.

PAST 10 FEBRUARY RAINFALL TOTALS...
2008 ... 1.22"     2003 ... 1.02"
2007 ... 0.04"     2002 ... 0.27"
2006 ... TRACE     2001 ... 0.46"
2005 ... 1.27"     2000 ... 0.19"
2004 ... 0.45"     1999 ... TRACE
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 0.88"
TEN YEAR AVERAGE ... 0.49"

THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER IN NOVEMBER 2007 FORECAST THAT THE AREA
WILL HAVE ENHANCED PROBABILTIES OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. 
THE 2007-2008 WINTER SEASON WILL GO INTO THE RECORD BOOKS AS COOLER
THAN NORMAL WITH BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL. HOWEVER...THE TUCSON AIRPORT
WAS NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE WINTER RAINFALL FOR THE AREA. DECEMBER
2007 WAS MUCH COOLER THAN NORMAL...WHILE JANUARY 2008 WAS NORMAL AND
FEBRUARY 2008 BEING SLIGHT WARMER THAN NORMAL. OVERALL THE AVERAGE
2007-2008 WINTER TEMPERATURE OF 52.0 WAS JUST UNDER ONE DEGREE BELOW
NORMAL. THIS MAKES TWO CONSECUTIVE WINTER SEASONS WITH THE AVERAGE
WINTER SEASON TEMPERATURES BEING BELOW NORMAL.

THREE BIG PRECIPITATION EVENTS OCCURRED DURING WINTER 2007-2008.
THESE EVENTS OCCURRED ON DECEMBER 1ST...JANUARY 27TH/28TH...AND
FEBRUARY 15TH/16TH.

DECEMBER 1ST...
A WEATHER SYSTEM OFF BAJA CALIFORNIA...WHICH BROUGHT SIGNIFICANT
RAINFALL TO END NOVEMBER CONTINUED ON DECEMBER 1ST. RAINFALL AMOUNTS
ON THE VALLEY FLOOR ON THE 1ST RANGED FROM A TRACE TO A HALF AN INCH
WITH 1"-2" IN THE MOUNTAINS. DUE TO THE WARM NATURE OF THIS
STORM...ALL OF THE MOUNTIAN PRECIPITATION WAS IN THE FORM OF RAIN.

JANUARY 27TH/28TH...
THE LAST FULL WEEKEND OF JANUARY SAW A STRONG WEATHER SYSTEM OFF THE
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST TAP INTO SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE AND SPREAD
IT NORTH ACROSS THE STATE. STRONG WINDS ABOVE THE SURFACE SLAMMED
INTO THE MOUNTAINS AND PRODUCED UPSLOPE CONDITIONS THAT ENHANCED
RAINFALL AMOUNTS ON THEM. AUTOMATED RAIN GAGES ON THE CATALINA
MOUNTAINS RECORDED BETWEEN SIX AND EIGHT INCHES OF RAIN...WHILE TWO
TO FOUR INCHES WAS RECORDED ON THE RINCON MOUNTAINS. THIS LED TO
SIGNIFICANT RUNOFF INTO THE CREEKS AND WASHES THAT DRAIN FROM THESE
RANGES. ON THE VALLEY FLOOR...AMOUNTS RANGED FROM LESS THAN A TENTH
OF AN INCH TO OVER AN INCH...WITH THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS NEAR THE
MOUNTAINS. THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WAS ONE OF THE DRIER SPOTS
ACROSS THE METRO AREA AS ONLY FOUR-HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH /0.04"/ WAS
RECORDED.

SEE ABOVE FOR THE FEBRUARY 15TH/16TH EVENT.

OVERALL MOST VALLEY LOCATIONS RECORDED BETWEEN THREE AND SIX INCHES
OF RAIN DURING THE 2007-2008 WINTER. THE EXCEPTIONS WERE AREAS FROM
THE AIRPORT SOUTH TO GREEN VALLEY AND UP IN MARANA WHERE LESS THAN
TWO AND A HALF INCHES WAS RECORDED.

...WINTER 2007-2008 STATS...        SEASON    NORMAL    DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE             64.7      65.8       - 1.1
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE             39.3      39.9       - 0.6
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE                  52.0      52.9       - 0.9
RAINFALL (AIRPORT)                   2.15"     2.90"     - 0.75"

LAST 10 AVERAGE WINTER SEASON TEMPERATURES...
2007-2008 ... 52.0       2002-2003 ... 54.5
2006-2007 ... 51.6       2001-2002 ... 52.5
2005-2006 ... 55.7       2000-2001 ... 52.2
2004-2005 ... 54.3       1999-2000 ... 54.5
2003-2004 ... 52.2       1998-1999 ... 54.1
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 52.9
TEN YEAR AVERAGE ... 53.4

LAST 10 WINTER SEASON RAINFALL...
2007-2008 ... 2.15"      2002-2003 ... 1.74"
2006-2007 ... 1.37"      2001-2002 ... 1.21"
2005-2006 ... 0.01"      2000-2001 ... 1.70"
2004-2005 ... 3.33"      1999-2000 ... 0.29"
2003-2004 ... 1.34"      1998-1999 ... 0.46"
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 2.90"
TEN YEAR AVERAGE ... 1.36" or 15.40" 10 YEAR WINTER SEASON DEFICIT

...2008 STATS THRU FEB...            2008    NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE             66.3     66.3          0.0
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE             40.5     40.2        + 0.3
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE                  53.4     53.3        + 0.1
RAINFALL                             1.39"    1.87"      - 0.48"
WATER YEAR RAINFALL (OCT-FEB)        2.97"    4.78"      - 1.81"

...LOOKING AHEAD INTO MARCH AND THE SPRING SEASON...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER PREDICTS (CPC) NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES
WITH ENHANCED PROBABILITIES OF BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL FOR MARCH. THE
SPRING 2008 FORECAST BY CPC IS FOR ENHANCED PROBABILITIES OF ABOVE
NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND BELOW 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 31 MINUTES
ON THE FIRST TO 12 HOURS 30 MINUTES ON THE 31ST...A GAIN OF 59
MINUTES. THE VERNAL EQUINOX...OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE BEGINNING OF
SPRING...WILL BEGIN ON MARCH 19TH AT 10:48 PM WHEN THE SUN CROSSES
THE EQUATOR INTO THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE.

GLUECK