Arizona monsoon still at least a week away as heat lingers

PHOENIX — A stretch of extreme heat typically precedes the start of the Arizona monsoon, but the National Weather Service said Monday it appears storms are still at least a week away.

“No moisture whatsoever,” meteorologist Chris Kuhlman said. “It may be dry through the Fourth of July.”

Arizona has been embroiled in extreme heat for about a week, with temperatures reaching as high as 119 degrees.

The final day of the heat wave was expected to be Monday. Temperatures will drop slightly as the week goes on, primarily thanks to storms in the southeast part of the state that will send both outflow boundaries and moisture into the Valley.

But that moisture will likely not translate into evening showers.

“Nothing across the desert,” Kuhlman said. “In reality, it’s going to be a longer break (from the monsoon) and it will probably be until after July 4 that we have any chance at all of seeing anything in the Phoenix area.”

Phoenix typically sees its first monsoon rain about July 7.

Highs over the holiday weekend were expected to hover about 108 degrees.

KTAR’s Jim Cross contributed to this report.

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