Phoenix on brink of first October without rain in nearly 20 years
Oct 30, 2017, 11:13 AM | Updated: 11:20 am
(Public Domain Photo)
PHOENIX — When the calendar shows Nov. 1 on Wednesday, Phoenix will have marked its first October without a drop of rain in nearly 20 years.
The last time the city did not have measurable rainfall for the entirety of October was back in 1999.
National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Breckenridge said a completely dry October was a rare thing.
“We don’t normally expect to see nothing,” he said. “This is the transitory period where you have the monsoon with a chance of rain everyday and then we get into the winter season with Pacific lows moving in on a fairly regular basis.”
The last time rain was recorded at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport — the official measuring site for the city — this year was Aug. 23.
That rain came toward the tail end of this year’s monsoon, which dropped a below-average 2.33 inches over the city between June 15 and Sept. 30.
This week also marked another weather record in Phoenix: The city has recorded 192 days this year with a temperature of 90 degrees or hotter, tying the all-time record set in 1934.
Sunday may have been the last day temperatures reach the 90s in Phoenix this year. The weather service said the mercury should stay below that for at least the next week.
On average, the last 90-degree day in Phoenix typically occurs around Oct. 28.
However, that doesn’t mean 90 is out of the picture for good: The latest that a 90-degree day occurred in the city was Nov. 15, 1999.