After a summer season of maximum warmth, Arizona’s most populous metropolis is within the file books once more. This time Phoenix is notching a file for dry warmth.
The Nationwide Climate Service mentioned Sunday that the monsoon season this yr within the arid south-west dropped solely 0.15 inches (.38 centimeters) of rainfall from 15 June to 30 September. That’s the driest because the company started conserving information in 1895. The earlier mark was 0.35 inches in 1924.
The monsoon season usually runs for about three months every year beginning in June, when rising temperatures warmth the land and shifting winds carry moisture from the japanese Pacific and Gulf of California to the south-west by way of summer season thunderstorms.
Phoenix’s common rainfall throughout a monsoon season is 2.43in (6.1cm). Arizona will get lower than 13in (33cm) of common annual rainfall as America’s second driest state behind Nevada, which meteorologist say averages lower than 10in (25.4cm) of rain per yr in comparison with the nationwide common of about 30in (76cm).
Monsoon 2023 was formally the driest on file in Phoenix with a grand whole of 0.15″ of rainfall recorded at Sky Harbor Worldwide Airport. The common through the monsoon season is often 2.43″. #azwx pic.twitter.com/3bdC728IK3
— NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) October 1, 2023
Nevada has struggled with drought situations since 2020. New Mexico, the fourth driest state within the US with a mean annual rainfall of about 14in (35.5cm) per yr, additionally has been affected by the drought lately.
Phoenix this summer season skilled the most popular July and the second-hottest August. The every day common temperature of 97F (36.1C) in June, July and August handed the earlier file of 96.7F (35.9C) set three years in the past.
In July, Phoenix additionally set a file with a 31-day streak of highs at or above 110F (43.3C), making a well being hazard for folks whose our bodies had been unable to chill off sufficiently amid the persistent, relenting warmth.
Confirmed heat-associated deaths in Arizona’s most populous county proceed to rise within the aftermath of the file summer season warmth.
Maricopa county public well being knowledge reveals that as of 23 September, there have been 295 heat-associated deaths confirmed with an analogous quantity – 298 – nonetheless beneath investigation for causes related to the warmth.
The rising numbers are conserving Maricopa on observe to set an annual file for heat-associated deaths after a blistering summer season, significantly in Phoenix. No different main metropolitan space in the USA has reported such excessive warmth dying figures or spends a lot time monitoring and learning them.
Scientists predict the numbers will solely proceed to climb as local weather change makes warmth waves extra frequent, intense and enduring.
