Latest news with #MarkOMalley
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
It has never rained on June 11 in Phoenix. Could it happen this year? Here's what to know
Metro Phoenix's dry summer weather isn't surprising. However, residents may be shocked to know that there is one day it has never rained — June 11. Since the National Weather Service began keeping records nearly 130 years ago, Phoenix has only seen trace amounts of rain, meaning the moisture was so light that it was not measurable, according to meteorologist Mark O'Malley. That was in 1991. There are also two other dates — May 30 and June 16 — where just 0.01 inch of rain has fallen, O'Malley confirmed. Why is that? It's because June is the driest month in Phoenix. Here's why metro Phoenix sees such dry weather in June and what to expect this week. June is the driest month for metro Phoenix, O'Malley said. On average, only 0.02 inches of rain falls during the whole month. Most years, including 2023 and 2019, no rain falls during June. "Just to get rain on any single day is an uncommon occurrence," he said. This year, an early June storm system dumped more than an inch of rain around the northern reaches of metro Phoenix, hinting at more moisture ahead than the Valley has seen over recent summers. "The first part of monsoon is not as wet as later in the monsoon," O'Malley said. "You have to pull in a lot more moisture. For Phoenix specifically, we don't start to see thunderstorms due to monsoon until about the beginning of July." News alerts in your inbox: Don't miss the important news of the day. Sign up for azcentral newsletter alerts to be in the know. Though monsoon starts on June 15, there is no rain in the forecast, O'Malley said. "We're looking for seasonably warm conditions with high temperatures in metro Phoenix of 105 to 110 degrees and then getting hotter over the weekend," he said. Here is the weather forecast for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the official weather station, according to the weather service: June 10: Sunny during the day, with a high near 106. Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Mostly clear at night, with a low around 81. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight. June 11: Sunny during the day, with a high near 107. Light southwest wind becoming west 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Clear at night, with a low around 81. West wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light west southwest after midnight. June 12: Sunny during the day, with a high near 108. Light and variable wind becoming west 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Mostly clear at night, with a low around 81. West southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable after midnight. June 13: Sunny during the day, with a high near 107. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. Mostly clear at night, with a low around 81. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm after midnight. June 14: Sunny during the day, with a high near 109. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon. Mostly clear at night, with a low around 82. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. June 15: Sunny and hot during the day, with a high near 111. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon. Arizona Republic reporter Russ Wiles contributed to this article. What will summer be like in Arizona? What NOAA, AccuWeather, almanacs predict This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: It has never rained on June 11 in Phoenix. Could it happen this year?
New York Times
31-05-2025
- Climate
- New York Times
Rare Early June Rainfall Could Reach Phoenix
A storm spinning off the coast of Baja California in Mexico on Saturday was poised to dive into the Southwest United States and drag with it remnants of post-tropical storm Alvin. This system, which is uncommonly wet for this time of year, will bring a rare chance for thunderstorms and brief heavy downpours to the region, especially to southeast California, southwest New Mexico and southern Arizona, including Phoenix, Sunday into Monday. The rain would be much welcome in an area with widespread drought conditions after a winter of below-normal precipitation. 'For this time of year this is quite unusual,' said Mark O'Malley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Phoenix. The Weather Service's official gauge for the Phoenix area is at Sky Harbor International Airport. It has recorded measurable rainfall in the first week of June on 21 occasions, with records going back to 1896. 'Normal rainfall is zero,' Mr. O'Malley said of the first week in June. There's a 75 percent chance the airport will record rain on Sunday afternoon or evening, with rainfall chances continuing into Monday. A thunderstorm or two could move over the airport and bring half an inch of rain, or the downpour could hit 10 miles west of the airport, and there would hardly be any rain. This unusual weather setup will bring a chance for rain and thunderstorms to most of the Southwest on Sunday into Monday, including southeastern California, southern Nevada, all of Arizona, western New Mexico, the Wasatch Mountains in Utah and portions of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. 'This is a fairly large swath of moisture, so I'd actually say, there's not just a chance of rain, but rain is likely,' said Peter Mullinax, a meteorologist with the Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center. The chances are highest across southern Arizona, southwest New Mexico and southeast California, and the Weather Prediction Center has put this area under a marginal risk — level 1 out of 4 — for excessive rainfall that could lead to flash flooding on Sunday. A slice of Southern Arizona is at a higher slight risk, level 2 out of 4. Mr. O'Malley said that minor flooding on roadways in the greater Phoenix area is possible. Storms occasionally pass over the Southwest in late spring but they're usually dry. Rain is more common during the monsoon season that starts June 15 and lasts into September. 'These storms come through and you'd never know, other than a little wind,' Mr. O'Malley said. 'With this storm, you have that moisture that's being pulled in from Alvin — that's the big difference.' Mr. Mullinax said there's also a strong southerly wind component that's escorting the tropical moisture northward into the Southwest. Alvin formed over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of west Mexico on Thursday, sending pounding surf to west-central Mexico and southern Baja California. The system has since dissipated and was a post-tropical cyclone over the North Pacific Ocean on Saturday.
