Arizona monsoon storms less common but ‘more extreme,’ study says
Jul 23, 2017, 5:27 PM
(@Tempegove on Instagram, via @Shallowshark)
(@Tempegove on Instagram, via @Shallowshark)
Monsoon storms in Arizona bring more extreme rain and winds but occur less often than they did 60 years ago, according to a study by University of Arizona’s hydrology and atmospheric sciences department.
In what the researchers called one of the first studies to identify long-term changes in the annual monsoon season in Arizona, data from 1950-70 was compared to another set from 1991-2010.
Climate change is considered a factor linked to the changing monsoon activity.
“What’s going on in the changes to the extremes is very different from what goes on in the changes to the mean,” said Christopher Castro, a co-author and associate professor at Arizona. “Big storms, heavy flooding — we found out those types of extreme precipitation events are becoming more intense and are becoming more intense downwind of the mountain ranges.”
In Arizona, the study took a look at land south and west of the Mogollon Rim. It determined that the most extreme weather occures in Bullhead City, Kingman and the Phoenix metro area. Casa Grande, Gila Bend, Ajo, Lukeville, the Colorado River Valley and Yuma also see extreme monsoon storms.
The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense Strategic Environment Research and Development Program, and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México PAPIIT.
The authors of the study set out to find weather risks with regard to Department of Defense installations.
