April will not be our cruelest month this year.
It rained enough to make puddles and break records on Sunday, the third day of measurable rain in April so far.
With three weeks to go, we already have 0.70 inches of rain โ more than twice our normal monthly tally of 0.31 inches.
And weโre apparently not done, with rain possible again this week.
Tomorrow doesnโt look very promising with small showers bouncing around the region, but thereโs no predicted repeat of Sunday, said meteorologist Emily French of the National Weather Service in Tucson.
French said another low-pressure system is expected by the end of the week, but the rain outlook is uncertain. That one could get wet or it may bring more wind than rain.
Sunday’s storms were widespread and some of the thundershowers were prodigious, producing hail and more than an inch of rain in some areas of Pima County, according to the citizen scientists of rainlog.org.
The rainlog map showed high totals on the northeast side near the Santa Catalina Mountains and in a swath of midtown Tucson.
All but two of the 93 automated rain gauges maintained by Pima Countyโs Regional Flood Control District measured rain, from a few hundredths to more than an inch. There was even a dusting of snow on Mount Lemmon.
Officially, the 0.45 inches of rain measured at Tucson International Airport on Sunday blew out the record for the date โ 0.16 inches, set in 1968.
April is generally a dry month in Tucson.
Rainfall remains below normal for the year, said French, despite an expectation of a wetter winter caused by the warm Pacific Ocean phenomenon known as El Niรฑo.
French said the historical correlation between a strong El Niรฑo and wet winter only works if you add in April precipitation.
It will take more rain than this to produce that wet, extended winter.
โWeโre still below normal for the year, but this will certainly help,โ French said.
As of Monday, Tucson had officially recorded 2.52 inches of rain in 2016.
Normal to date is 2.69 inches.
