It’s raining — not much and only in a few places in the Tucson metro region, but the tease has begun.
The possibility of rain is in the forecast for the next few days — a 10 percent chance each day for the valley and slightly better odds in the mountains.
Clouds, meanwhile, will keep the heat down just a little. Highs for the next five days are in the 101-to-108-degree range, which seems cool only in comparison to our recent streak of hellishness.
Measurable rain (measured in thousandths of an inch) fell in a few places around Tucson of Monday, said meteorologist Gary Zell of the Tucson office of the National Weather Service.
Rain is forecast for the rest of the workweek, but it will mostly fall south and east of Tucson, said Zell, with a 10 percent chance of surprises.
“Monsoon moisture is still way, way south,” said Mike Leuthold, forecaster with the University of Arizona’s Atmospheric Sciences Department.
“It’s not truly the monsoon moisture,” Leuthold said. “There are still a lot of dry spots in Mexico.”
Storms will continue along the border and possibly pop up farther north for the next few days before the atmosphere dries again, he said.
The shift to a southwesterly flow that brings moisture from the Mexican Sierra and the Gulf of Mexico will probably wait for July.
“It doesn’t look good for at least the next week to 10 days,” Leuthold said.
The first week of July is when the summer thunderstorms typically begin in earnest in Tucson.
In the meantime, enjoy the clouds and whatever whiff of rain might come your way.
