HOT, HOT, HOT
Warm April gives way to even warmer May
If you’re into warm, dry weather, April was your month and Phoenix was the place.
The good news for those folks is May is looking like more of the same, especially when it comes to heat.
The average high temperature for April 2017 was 88.6 degrees which was 3.4 degrees higher than normal. Meanwhile, there was no measurable rain for the month — a trace (less than a hundredth of an inch) was recorded on April 3 — which ties the record for the driest April ever, according to the National Weather Service.
The Climate Prediction Center’s outlook for the coming months say we can expect more warmer-than-normal weather.
The CPC three-month outlook calls for a 50-percent probability of above normal temperatures for Phoenix through July. Meanwhile, the precipitation portion of that outlook is mixed with an equal probability of above, normal or below average rain.
The average May high temperature in
Phoenix is 94.8 degrees, while the average rainfall is 0.011 of an inch. May is the second-driest month in Phoenix, on average, behind June (.02 of an inch).
Phoenix has been dry recently after seeing strong rains in January and February.
April was the second straight month of below-normal rainfall for Phoenix. March saw only .06 of an inch, 0.93 below normal. Through April 30, there have been 2.40 inches of rain so far this year at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, .70 of an inch below normal.
Fortunately, that hasn’t been the case in northern Arizona, where most of the area’s drinking water comes from.
University of Arizona climatologist Mike Crimmins, who monitors drought conditions in the Southwest, said the past couple of months have been a “tale of two parts of the state.”
“North of Phoenix has continued to get (precipitation) and has done amazingly well,” Crimmins said. “The northwest, north-central and northeastern parts of the state have been able to get precipitation out of a pretty active storm track. From Phoenix south, we’ve just gotten wind out of these passing storm systems.”
As a result, short-term drought, which mainly impacts surface or agricultural conditions, has made a comeback in southern Arizona after a wet start to the year provided some relief.
“You’ve already seen the (United States) Drought Monitor start to bring short-term drought conditions back into the southern part of the state,” Crimmins said. “But the northern part of the state is going to be OK through the rest of the spring. Then we’ll just shift our attention to the monsoon season and see what that gives us.”
While April 2017, was warmer than normal, it didn’t compare to the recordsetting heat of that month in 1989.
» The average high for April 2017 was 88.6, degrees compared with the normal high of 85.2. The record was 94.2 degrees in 1989. April 2017 was 10th warmest.
» The average temperature (combining the average high and low and dividing by two) was 75.3; the normal is 72.7. The record was 80 degrees in 1989. Last month was seventh on the all-time list.
» The average low was 61.9 degrees, compared with the normal of 60.2. The record for that category was 65.9 degrees in 1989. April 2017 was 13th on the list.