March 2008 climate report for Tucson

...MARCH HIGHLIGHTS...
...24TH WARMEST MARCH (TIED WITH 1918) ON RECORD...
...42ND DRIEST MARCH (TIED WITH 2005 AND 1899) ON RECORD...

WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS PREVAILED ACROSS THE TUCSON METRO AREA FOR
MOST OF MARCH.

AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WAS PARKED OVER THE WESTERN UNITED STATES
DURING THE FIRST TEN DAYS OF MARCH. THIS KEPT THE AREA COOLER THAN
NORMAL AS WEAK WEATHER SYSTEMS PRODUCED BREEZY CONDITIONS BUT NO
PRECIPITATION. HIGH TEMPERATURES WARMED INTO THE LOWER 80S BETWEEN
THE 11TH AND 14TH THANKS TO HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT.

THE ONLY PRECIPITATION OF THE MONTH OCCURED ON THE 15TH AND 16TH AS
A STRONG EASTERN PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM MOVED THROUGH THE AREA. HIGH
TEMPERATURES WITH THIS SYSTEM WERE IN THE 50S TO AROUND 60.

HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT REGAINED CONTROL OF OUR WEATHER DURING THE SECOND
HALF OF THE MONTH RESULTING IN HIGH TEMPERATURES BEING IN THE UPPER
70S TO MID 80S. 

THE AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 60.9 DEGREES WAS 1.7 DEGREES ABOVE
NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 24TH WARMEST MARCH ON RECORD. TEMPERATURE
EXTREMES FOR THE MONTH RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 86 DEGREES ON THE
24TH...25TH AND 28TH TO A LOW OF 35 DEGREES ON THE 4TH AND 18TH.

PAST 10 FEBRUARY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES...
2008 ... 60.9     2003 ... 59.8
2007 ... 63.1     2002 ... 59.2
2006 ... 58.7     2001 ... 60.2
2005 ... 59.2     2000 ... 58.8
2004 ... 66.7     1999 ... 61.4
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 59.2
10 YEAR AVERAGE .... 60.8

...MARCH 2008 STATS...         MONTH     NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        76.0      73.3        + 2.7
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        45.7      45.1        + 0.6
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             60.9      59.2        + 1.7
RAINFALL                        0.37"     0.81"      - 0.44"

RAINFALL AMOUNTS ACROSS THE METRO AREA DURING MARCH RANGED 0.05" TO
0.45" WITH THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS RECORDING OVER A HALF AN INCH.
OFFICIALLY THE AIRPORT RECORDED JUST OVER A THIRD OF AN INCH /0.37"/
WHICH IS FORTY-FOUR HUNDREDTHS /0.44"/ OF AN INCH BELOW NORMAL.

LAST 10 MARCH RAINFALL TOTALS...
2008 ... 0.37"    2003 ... 0.54"
2007 ... 0.59"    2002 ... 0.07"
2006 ... 0.41"    2001 ... 0.88"
2005 ... 0.37"    2000 ... 0.93"
2004 ... 1.13"    1999 ... TRACE
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 0.81"
10 YEAR AVERAGE .... 0.53" 

...2008 STATS THRU MARCH...     YEAR     NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        69.6      68.7        + 0.9
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        42.3      41.8        + 0.5
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             56.0      55.3        + 0.7
RAINFALL                        1.76"     2.68"      - 0.92"
WATER YEAR RAINFALL (OCT-MAR)   3.34"     5.59"      - 2.25"

THE 2007-2008 WATER YEAR IS AT THE HALF WAY MARK AND IS CURRENTLY
OVER TWO INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 35TH DRIEST WATER
YEAR TO DATE.

LAST 10 WATER YEARS TO DATE (OCT 1 TO MAR 31)
2007-2008 ..... 3.34"           2002-2003 ..... 2.98"
2006-2007 ..... 2.23"           2001-2002 ..... 2.02"
2005-2006 ..... 0.73"           2000-2001 ..... 8.93"
2004-2005 ..... 4.76"           1999-2000 ..... 1.22"
2003-2004 ..... 3.94"           1998-1999 ..... 1.37"
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 5.59"
10 YEAR AVERAGE .... 3.15"

THE AREA IS STILL GRIPPED IN LONG TERM DROUGHT CONDITIONS AND BASED
ON THE PAST 10 YEARS OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE WATER YEAR...THE TUCSON
AREA IS RUNNING A 24+ INCH DEFICIT.

...LOOKING AHEAD INTO APRIL...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FORECASTS THAT THE MONTH OF APRIL WILL
HAVE ENHANCED PROBABILITIES OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND BELOW
NORMAL PRECIPITATION.

APRIL STATISTICS...
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE ......... 81.5 DEGREES
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE .......... 50.5 DEGREES
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE ...... 66.0 DEGREES
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE .......... 104 DEGREES ON APRIL 20 & 21 1989
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE ........... 27 DEGREES ON APRIL 4 1945
WARMEST APRIL (AVG) .............. 73.8 DEGREES IN 1989
COLDEST APRIL (AVG) .............. 57.8 DEGREES IN 1975
NORMAL RAINFALL .................. 0.28 INCHES
WETTEST APRIL DAY ................ 1.17 INCHES ON APRIL 1 1999
WETTEST APRIL .................... 3.53 INCHES IN 1905
DRIEST APRIL ..................... 0.00 INCHES IN 2002
                                    (LAST OF 11 OCCURRENCES)

THE NUMBER OF DAYLIGHT HOURS WILL INCREASE FROM 12 HOURS 33 MINUTES
ON THE 1ST TO 13 HOURS 26 MINUTES ON THE 30TH...A GAIN OF 53 MINUTES.

GLUECK