Arizona monsoon could return to Phoenix area early next week
Jul 13, 2016, 3:56 PM | Updated: Jul 14, 2016, 11:05 am
(KTAR Photo)
(KTAR Photo)
PHOENIX — It’s been an extremely warm summer in Phoenix but the summer monsoon season may send a few storms through the area as soon as next week.
Jessica Nolte with the National Weather Service said the monsoon, after taking a few weeks off since the Fourth of July holiday weekend, appears to be getting its feet under it again.
“Possibly — at least across southeast Arizona — by the weekend and maybe further north into the south-central Arizona deserts by early next week,” she said of the chances of storms.
The current lull in the monsoon season was forecast by the weather service after it noticed a drop in the moisture needed to fuel the storms. Nolte said the expectations of an increase in moisture lead her to believe the rain will return.
“Even though the moisture has disappeared for a short while, it’s bound to come back,” she said. “It’s bound to bring all of the associated hazards — blowing dust, dust storms, lightning, downburst winds.”
The monsoon season officially runs through Sept. 30.
During the first month of the 2016 monsoon, rain gauges at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport have only recorded one one-hundredth of an inch.
It typically records about three inches during the average monsoon season.
KTAR’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.
