We already knew July in Tucson was unusually dry, but now we know it also saw near-record heat for the month.
Last month tied for the third-hottest July on record in Tucson, according to the National Weather Service. The monthly average temperature was 90.3 degrees, about 3 degrees above normal for the month and just 0.3 degrees below the hottest July on record. July also tied for the third-hottest calendar month on record in Tucson, according to the NWS climate report.
The average high temperature in July was 103.6 degrees, a sizzling 4 degrees above the month’s normal.
Tucson also had 26 days of recorded triple-digit heat in July, which also made it tied it for the third-most days on record for the month, and just shy of the 28 days of 100-degree heat or greater, set twice in July 1920 and 1942.
The weather service said much of the heat could be attributed to the strong high-pressure systems that built up over the area. Those systems also helped keep the monsoon rains away.
We set two daily record highs when we reached 109 degrees July 10, and 110 degrees July 16. This was the fifth latest occurrence of our first 110-degree day, the weather service noted.
The monsoon picked up at the tail end of the month, but July saw just 1.07 inches of rain, well below the normal amount for the month of 2.25 inches.
Overall, though, we are not too far off our yearly average temperature more than halfway through 2019.
The average yearly temperature at the end of July was 69 degrees, which is just 0.2 degrees below our normal average yearly temperature by this time of year.
For 2019, Tucson’s average high temperature is 82.8 degrees, slightly below normal; and our average low temperature is 55.2 degrees, just a smidgen above normal. We’ve had 43 days of 100-degree or higher temperatures in 2019, slightly above normal, and 20 days of 105 degrees or warmer, also slightly above normal.
Despite the dry July, our rainfall for the year stands at 6.10 inches, more than a half-an-inch above normal for this time of year.
For August, the Climate Prediction Center forecast “slightly enhanced probablilities for above normal rainfall and temperatures” in Tucson, the NWS said.
