May 2008 climate report for Tucson

...MAY AND SPRING SEASON HIGHLIGHTS...
...COLDEST MAY SINCE 1998...
...FIRST TRIPLE DIGIT HIGH OCCURS ON THE 19TH...
...27TH WARMEST AND 24TH DRIEST SPRING ON RECORD...

MAY 2008 WILL DEFINITELY GO INTO THE RECORD BOOKS AS A VERY 
UNSETTLED...COOL AND WACKY WEATHER MONTH. IT IS NOT TOO OFTEN THAT 
MAY HAS MULTIPLE DAYS OF VERY GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH LATE SEASON 
MOUNTAIN SNOW AND HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 60S LATE IN THE 
MONTH.

THE FIRST HALF ON THE MONTH SAW A ROLLER COASTER RIDE IN HIGH
TEMPERATURES AS SEVERAL WEATHER SYSTEMS AFFECTED THE AREA. ONE OF
THESE SYSTEMS HAD ENOUGH MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH IT TO BRING
ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA ON THE 13TH.

STRONG HIGH PRESSURE FINALLY BUILT OVER THE AREA FROM THE EASTERN
PACIFIC BETWEEN THE 18TH AND 20TH...RESULTING IN THE FIRST RUN TO THE
CENTURY MARK FOR 2008. THE SANTA CRUZ ICE OFFICIALLY BROKE AT 12:10 
PM MST ON MAY 19TH WITH THE FIRST 100 DEGREE READING OF THE YEAR. 
THE HISTORICAL AVERAGE FIRST 100 DEGREE DAY DATE IS MAY 26TH.

THE TRIPLE DIGIT TEMPERATURES LASTED ONLY TWO DAYS BEFORE A STRONG 
LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM FOR LATE MAY SETTLED IN OVER THE AREA. THIS 
SYSTEM BROUGHT MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES...STRONG WINDS...SCATTERED 
SHOWERS AND MOUNTAIN SNOW. THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 69 DEGREES ON THE 
23RD WAS THE COLDEST SO LATE IN MAY SINCE 1919 WHILE MT. LEMMON 
RECORDED ITS LATEST MEASURABLE SNOWFALL ON RECORD. THE WIND WAS ALSO 
A BIG STORY WITH THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT RECORDING WIND GUSTS IN 
EXCESS OF 40 MPH FROM THE 21ST THROUGH 23RD. THE 45 MPH GUST ON THE 
21ST IS TIED FOR THE STRONGEST GUST IN MAY SINCE RECORD KEEPING OF 
WIND GUSTS BEGAN IN 1987.

TOP 5 MAY WIND GUSTS RECORDED AT THE AIRPORT SINCE 1987...
1) 45 MPH ON MAY 21 2008
   45 MPH ON MAY 11 1993
   45 MPH ON MAY 29 1988
4) 44 MPH ON MAY 22 2008
   44 MPH ON MAY 23 2008 LAST OF SIX OCCURRENCES

OFFICIALLY...MAY 2008 WILL GO INTO THE RECORD BOOKS WITH AN AVERAGE 
MONTHLY TEMPERATURE OF 73.3 DEGREES. THIS IS 1.2 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL 
AND IS THE FIRST MAY SINCE 1998 TO BE BELOW NORMAL. TEMPERATURE 
EXTREMES FOR THE MONTH RANGED FROM A HIGH OF 103 DEGREES ON THE 20TH 
TO A LOW OF 49 DEGREES ON THE 14TH.

PAST 10 MAY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND HISTORICAL RANKING

YEAR          AVG HIGH  AVG LOW  AVG TEMP   HISTORICAL RANKING
2008            88.5      58.0     73.3     55TH COOLEST
2007            93.3      62.8     78.0     10TH WARMEST
2006            94.5      63.5     79.0      6TH WARMEST
2005            92.2      62.5     77.4     13TH WARMEST
2004            93.2      62.3     77.7     12TH WARMEST
2003            93.5      62.4     77.9     11TH WARMEST
2002            92.5      59.0     75.8     26TH WARMEST
2001            95.3      63.2     79.3      4TH WARMEST
2000            96.5      63.9     80.2       WARMEST
1999            90.7      58.7     74.7     40TH WARMEST
----            ----      ----     ----
10 YR AVERAGE   93.0      61.6     77.3
1971-2000 NRML  90.4      58.6     74.5

RAINFALL OCCURRED ON THREE DAYS DURING MAY...THE 13TH...22ND AND 
23RD. RAINFALL AMOUNTS ON THE 13TH WERE GENERALLY LESS THAN A TENTH 
OF AN INCH WITH THE HIGHEST TOTALS NEAR THE MOUNTAINS. THE UNUSUALLY 
STRONG WEATHER SYSTEM LATE IN THE MONTH BROUGHT SHOWERS AND ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA ON THE 22ND AND 23RD. THE HIGHEST RAINFALL 
TOTALS FOR THIS TWO DAY EVENT WERE NEAR THE SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS 
WHERE BETWEEN A HALF AND ONE INCH WAS RECORDED. THE REMAINDER OF THE 
METRO AREA RECORDED LESS THAN A THIRD OF AN INCH WITH SOME AREAS NOT
RECORDING ANY RAINFALL AT ALL. OFFICIALLY FOR THE MONTH THE AIRPORT 
RECORDED TWO-HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH /0.02"/ WHICH IS JUST OVER 
TWO-TENTHS OF AN INCH BELOW NORMAL.

PAST 10 MAY RAINFALL TOTALS
2008 ..... 0.02"     2003 .....  0.13"
2007 ..... 0.14"     2002 .....  0.00"
2006 ..... TRACE     2001 .....  0.24"
2005 ..... 0.63"     2000 .....  0.00"
2004 ..... TRACE     1999 .....  0.00"
TEN-YEAR AVERAGE ... 0.12"
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 0.24"

...MAY 2008 STATS...           MONTH     NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        88.5      90.4        - 1.9
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        58.0      58.6        - 0.6
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             73.3      74.5        - 1.2
NUMBER OF 100+ DEGREE HIGHS       2         3         -  1 
RAINFALL                        0.02"     0.24"      - 0.22"

THE 2008 SPRING SEASON (MARCH THROUGH MAY) WAS THE 27TH WARMEST ON
RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE SPRING TEMPERATURE OF 67.5 DEGREES. RAINFALL
WAS LESS THAN A HALF AN INCH /0.44"/ AT THE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 
WHICH RANKS AS THE 24TH DRIEST (TIED WITH 1902) SPRING ON RECORD.

PAST 10 AVERAGE SPRING TEMPERATURES
2008 ..... 67.5      2003 ..... 67.8
2007 ..... 69.9      2002 ..... 68.8
2006 ..... 68.7      2001 ..... 68.7
2005 ..... 68.1      2000 ..... 69.8
2004 ..... 70.3      1999 ..... 66.2
TEN YEAR AVERAGE ... 68.5
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 66.6

PAST 10 SPRING RAINFALL TOTALS
2008 ..... 0.44"     2003 .....  0.68"
2007 ..... 0.88"     2002 .....  0.07"
2006 ..... 0.41"     2001 .....  1.96"
2005 ..... 1.33"     2000 .....  0.93"
2004 ..... 2.17"     1999 .....  1.34"
TEN-YEAR AVERAGE ... 1.02"
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 1.33"

...SPRING 2008 STATS...        SEASON    NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        83.0      81.7        + 1.3
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        52.0      51.4        + 0.6
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             67.5      66.6        + 0.9
RAINFALL                        0.44"     1.33"      - 0.89"

THE CURRENT 2007-2008 WATER YEAR (OCTOBER 1ST TO MAY 31ST) RAINFALL
TOTAL OF 3.41 INCHES RANKS AS THE 30TH DRIEST TO DATE ON RECORD. THE
DRIEST TO DATE IS 0.73 INCHES WHICH OCCURRED DURING THE 2005-2006
WATER YEAR.

PAST 10 WATER YEAR (OCT-MAY) RAINFALL TOTALS
2007-2008 ..... 3.41"     2002-2003 .....  3.15"
2006-2007 ..... 2.52"     2001-2002 .....  2.02"
2005-2006 ..... 0.73"     2000-2001 ..... 10.01"
2004-2005 ..... 5.72"     1999-2000 .....  1.22"
2003-2004 ..... 4.98"     1998-1999 .....  2.71"
TEN-YEAR AVERAGE ... 3.65"
1971-2000 NORMAL ... 6.11"

...2008 STATS THRU MAY...       YEAR     NORMAL     DEPARTURE
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE        76.4      75.7        + 0.7
AVERAGE LOW  TEMPERATURE        47.4      47.0        + 0.4
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE             61.9      61.3        + 0.6
NUMBER OF 100+ DEGREE HIGHS       2         3          - 1
RAINFALL                        1.83"     3.20"      - 1.37"
WATER YEAR RAINFALL (OCT-MAY)   3.41"     6.11"      - 2.70"

THE AVERAGE YEARLY TEMPERATURE THROUGH MAY 31ST OF 61.9 DEGREES 
RANKS AS THE 24TH WARMEST START TO A CALENDAR YEAR. THE RAINFALL 
TOTAL FOR 2008 THROUGH MAY 31ST OF 1.83 INCHES RANKS AS THE 35TH 
DRIEST START TO A CALENDAR YEAR ON RECORD.

...LOOKING AHEAD INTO JUNE AND THE SUMMER SEASON...
THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FORECASTS THAT THE MONTH OF JUNE WILL
HAVE ENHANCED PROBABILITIES FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND EQUAL
CHANCES FOR EITHER ABOVE NORMAL...NORMAL...OR BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL.

THE FORECAST FOR SUMMER 2008 (JUNE THROUGH AUGUST) CALLS FOR ENHANCED
PROBABILITIES FOR ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND EQUAL CHANCES FOR
EITHER ABOVE NORMAL...NORMAL...OR BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL.

JUNE NORMALS AND RECORDS...
AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE .........100.2 DEGREES
AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE .......... 68.0 DEGREES
AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE ...... 84.1 DEGREES
RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE .......... 117 DEGREES ON JUNE 26 1990
RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE ...........  43 DEGREES ON JUNE  4 1908
WARMEST JUNE (AVG) ............... 89.2 DEGREES IN 1994
COLDEST JUNE (AVG) ............... 77.6 DEGREES IN 1965
NORMAL RAINFALL .................. 0.24 INCHES
WETTEST JUNE DAY ................. 1.56 INCHES ON JUNE 28 1938
WETTEST JUNE...................... 2.07 INCHES IN 1938
DRIEST JUNE ...................... 0.00 INCHES IN 2002
                                        (LAST OF 13 OCCURRENCES)

SUMMER SEASON NORMALS AND RECORDS (JUNE THRU AUGUST)...
NORMAL HIGH TEMPERATURE ......... 99.1 DEGREES
NORMAL LOW TEMPERATURE .......... 71.3 DEGREES
NORMAL SEASONAL TEMPERATURE ..... 85.2 DEGREES
WARMEST SUMMER (AVG) ............ 89.9 DEGREES IN 1994
COLDEST SUMMER (AVG) ............ 81.3 DEGREES IN 1923
NORMAL SUMMER RAINFALL ..........  4.61 INCHES
WETTEST SUMMER .................. 13.06 INCHES IN 1955
DRIEST SUMMER ...................  0.81 INCH   IN 1926

THE NUMBER OF DAYLIGHT HOURS WILL INCREASE FROM 14 HOURS 8 MINUTES ON
THE FIRST TO 14 HOURS 13 MINUTES ON THE 30TH...A GAIN OF 5 MINUTES.
ASTRONOMICAL SUMMER WILL BEGIN ON JUNE 20TH AT 4:59 PM WHEN THE SUN
REACHES THE NORTHERN MOST LATITUDE PART OF THE EARTH (23.4 DEGREES
NORTH OR THE TROPIC OF CANCER).

GLUECK/FRANCIS