...JULY HIGHLIGHTS...
...COOLEST JULY SINCE 1999...
...22ND WETTEST AND 36TH COOLEST JULY ON RECORD...
...15TH COOLEST AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE ON RECORD...
...TIED MOST CONSECUTIVE DAYS IN JULY WITH RAINFALL...

THE ANNUAL MONSOON WAS IN FULL SWING DURING THE FIRST THREE WEEKS OF
THE MONTH AND THEN TOOK A BREAK DURING THE LAST WEEK...WHICH IS USUAL
DURING THE PEAK OF THE MONSOON. THE ACTIVE NATURE OF THE 2008 MONSOON
RESULTED IN DAYTIME TEMPERATURE BEING COOLER THAN NORMAL.

THE ONSET OF THE 2008 MONSOON...WHICH OCCURRED IN LATE JUNE TO EARLY
JULY...WAS VERY ACTIVE WITH DAILY OCCURRENCES OF THUNDERSTORMS WHERE
A FEW OF THEM WERE SEVERE. DUE TO ABOVE NORMAL NATURE OF THE
AVAILABILITY OF MOISTURE...IT FELT MORE HUMID WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS
HAVING A GREATER CHANCE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINS THAT RESULTED
IN FLASH FLOODING. 

THE MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 85.6 DEGREES WAS NINE-TENTHS OF A
DEGREE BELOW NORMAL AND WILL GO INTO THE RECORD BOOKS AS THE 36TH
COOLEST JULY ON RECORD. THE BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES WERE REALLY
FELT ON DAYTIME HIGHS AS THE AVERAGE MONTHLY HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS
96.9 DEGREES. THIS IS 2.7 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 15TH
COOLEST AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR JULY. TEMPERATURE EXTREMES FOR
THE MONTH RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 106 DEGREES ON THE 1ST TO A LOW OF
69 DEGREES ON THE 11TH. THE LOW ON THE 11TH OCCURRED DURING A
THUNDERSTORM AND CAME WITHIN ONE DEGREE OF THE DAILY RECORD LOW
TEMPERATURE OF 68 DEGREES SET IN 1937.

LOW MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS SET/TIED
DATE   HIGH         YEAR
10TH    86  TIED    7/10/1930
11TH    89  TIED    7/11/1992-1949-1919

PAST 10 AVERAGE JULY TEMPERATURES...
2008 ... 85.6     2003 ... 89.2
2007 ... 87.9     2002 ... 86.8
2006 ... 88.3     2001 ... 86.2
2005 ... 90.6     2000 ... 88.1
2004 ... 86.8     1999 ... 84.0
TEN YEAR AVERAGE ... 87.4
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 86.5

RAINFALL AMOUNTS ACROSS THE METRO AREA WERE GENERALLY IN THE 3 TO 6
INCH RANGE WITH A FEW SPOTS NEAR THE MOUNTAINS RECORDING OVER 7".
HOWEVER AREAS WEST OF INTERSTATE 10 UP TO AVRA VALLEY RECORDED LESS
THAN TWO INCHES. THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT OFFICIALLY RECORDED 3.42"
AND THIS RANKS AS THE 22ND WETTEST JULY ON RECORD. COMBINED WITH
2007 (5.22") AND 2006 (5.40")...THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE
1907-1910 PERIOD (1907: 4.27"; 1908: 4.77"; 1909: 4.04"; 1910:
4.21") THAT THE OFFICIAL RAINFALL RECORDING SPOT IN TUCSON RECORDED
THREE OR MORE CONSECUTIVE JULYS WITH GREATER THAN THREE INCHES OF
RAIN. ADDITIONALLY...THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDED 12 STRAIGHT
DAYS OF RAINFALL (JULY 3RD THRU 14TH) WHICH TIED THE JULY RECORD
WHICH WAS PREVIOUSLY SET IN 1976 (JULY 16TH THRU 27TH) AND IN 1955
(JULY 15TH THRU 26TH).

PAST 10 JULY RAINFALL AMOUNTS...
2008 ... 3.42"    2003 ... 2.50"
2007 ... 5.22"    2002 ... 2.47"
2006 ... 5.40"    2001 ... 1.09"
2005 ... 0.72"    2000 ... 1.59"
2004 ... 0.86"    1999 ... 4.15"
TEN YEAR AVERAGE ... 2.74"
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 2.07"

...JULY 2008 STATS...          MONTH     NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        96.9      99.6        - 2.7 
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        74.3      73.4        + 0.9
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             85.6      86.5        - 0.9 
RAINFALL                        3.42"     2.07"      + 1.35" 
NUMBER OF 100+ DEGREE HIGHS      12        17         -  5

...2008 STATS THRU JULY...      YEAR     NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        83.1      82.6        + 0.5
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        54.8      53.8        + 1.0
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             68.9      68.2        + 0.7
RAINFALL                        5.41"     5.51"      - 0.10"
NUMBER OF 100+ DEGREE HIGHS      36        36            0
2008 MONSOON RAINFALL           3.58"     2.31"      + 1.27"
WATER YEAR RAINFALL (OCT-JUL)   6.99"     8.42"      - 1.43"

...LOOKING AHEAD INTO AUGUST...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FORECASTS THAT THE MONTH OF AUGUST WILL
HAVE SLIGHTLY ENHANCED PROBABILITIES FOR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES
AND ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL.

AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE ......... 97.4 DEGREES
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE .......... 72.4 DEGREES
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE ...... 84.9 DEGREES
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE ..........  112 DEGREES ON AUGUST 1 1993
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE ...........   55 DEGREES ON AUGUST 20 1917
WARMEST AUGUST (AVG) ............. 90.3 DEGREES IN 1994 
COLDEST AUGUST (AVG) ............. 80.8 DEGREES IN 1923
NORMAL RAINFALL .................. 2.30 INCHES
WETTEST AUGUST DAY ............... 2.88 INCHES ON AUGUST 1 1935
WETTEST AUGUST ................... 7.93 INCHES IN 1955
DRIEST AUGUST .................... 0.08 INCHES IN 1924

THE NUMBER OF DAYLIGHT HOURS WILL DECREASE FROM 13 HOURS 42 MINUTES
ON THE FIRST TO 12 HOURS 49 MINUTES ON THE 31ST...FOR A LOSS OF
53 MINUTES.

GLUECK