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Arizona Monthly State Temperature & Precipitation Update

On approximately the 20th of each month the recent climate conditions across the state of Arizona are reviewed. The analysis is a cursory look at general conditions across the state.*

The primary climate variables of temperature and precipitation are monitored for the state of Arizona by climatically homogeneous areas termed ‘climate divisions’. There are 7 climate divisions for Arizona. From the stations within each climate division, mean values of temperature and precipitation for the division as a whole are computed.

Since April 2006, precipitation has been monitored for the 15 watersheds in Arizona as part of the recommendations of the Governor’s Drought Task Force. Each month the average precipitation for each watershed is calculated and ranked against that month’s precipitation during the period of 1971-present. Here, values for the most recent month along with 3-, 6-, 12-, 24-, 36-, and 48-month mean temperature and total precipitation values are ranked within a historical context (1895-present for temperature in the climate divisions and 1971-present for precipitation in the watersheds) and the rankings are divided by the number of years of data and multiplied by 100% to create percentiles. Low percentile values indicate cool or dry conditions while high values indicate warm or wet conditions. For example, a temperature that falls at the 100th percentile means that it is the highest temperature for the period of record. The ADWR Drought Program monthly drought updates use the 3-, 6-, and 12-month precipitation for short term drought status and 24-, 36-, and 48-month precipitation along with streamflow to determine the long term drought categories by watershed.