It wasn't just the hottest summer on record; it was also the driest
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The hottest summer in Phoenix history will also be the driest. Phoenix's extremely weak monsoon season is closing out with no precipitation in the forecast.
Monsoon season officially lasts from June 15 to Sept. 30. The summer storms typically bring about 2.4 inches of rain to the Valley. This year, we’ve had just 0.15 inches. That’s not even half as much as Phoenix got in the next-driest monsoon on record back in 1924, when summer rainfall totaled 0.35 inches.
"It's certainly very dry. Certainly well below normal," said meteorologist Isaac Smith with the National Weather Service.
With just a week-and-a-half left in monsoon season, Smith said it doesn’t look like conditions will change.
“It seems like any precipitation would stay focused maybe over the higher terrains, overall, it looks like we’re going to be looking at a pretty dry pattern continuing through the rest of this month," Smith said.
Most of the rest of the state has had below-average precipitation this monsoon season, too. But, summer storms did bring above-average rainfall to Apache Junction, Yuma, Kingman and Page.
