Several fingers of lighting strike southwest of Tucson as rain falls on July 29. As storms approached Friday night — and with more than four months left in the year — the city was on the cusp of surpassing its annual average rainfall.

 Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star

Tucson is closing in on its average annual rainfall total with more than four months left in the year.

By the time you read this, in fact, we may have already tipped into above-average territory.

Tucson averages 10.61 inches of precipitation a year, according to the National Weather Service’s running, 30-year average going back to 1991.

Through Thursday night, the weather service’s official station at Tucson International Airport had logged a total of 10.19 inches, with more showers on the way.

“We’ll definitely be adding to the total in the days and months to come,” said weather service meteorologist Glenn Lader. “It’s just a matter of how much above average we end up.”

The current forecast calls for widespread rain through the weekend, with the best chances Friday night.

Ladder said some areas could see heavy downpours and severe thunderstorm activity, with lightning and potential for damaging wind gusts.

A flash flood watch remains in effect for most of Southeastern Arizona until Sunday afternoon.

The U.S. Forest Service has preemptively closed some roads and hiking trails in the Catalina Mountains due to the chance of localized flash flooding this weekend.

On its Facebook page late Friday morning, the agency in charge of the Coronado National Forest announced the temporary closure of Peppersauce Campground, Charouleau Gap Road, the Red Ridge Trail and the Control Road up the north side of Mount Lemmon.

A host of hiking paths in the Pusch Ridge Wilderness are also closed for the time being, including the Bear Canyon, Finger Rock, Pima Canyon, Pontatoc and Ventana trails.

At Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, where a number of hikers have already been escorted out or rescued from floodwaters this year, the Forest Service has temporarily closed Sabino Canyon Road at Bridge 1, upstream of Rattlesnake Canyon, and Bear Canyon Road at the Sabino Creek crossing.

The Sabino Canyon Crawler shuttle bus was limited on Friday to what it calls its “highwater route,” which only goes as far as stop 2 on the usual 9-stop route up the canyon.

Download PDF Tucson area rain, year to date for 2021

Forest Service spokeswoman Heidi Schewel said the closures were made because of the weather forecast and the increased risk of flooding from areas burned last year by the Bighorn Fire.

“When we know there are conditions on the ground that may become hazardous … then we are going to close trails,” she said.

Expanded or additional closures may become necessary, depending on conditions. For the latest information, forest visitors are urged to check the agency’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CoronadoNF.

Close to 80% of Tucson’s rainfall so far this year came last month, which ranked as the wettest July on record with 8.06 inches. The old record for July was 6.8 inches, set in 2017.

The weather service recently updated Tucson’s annual rainfall average, adopting the current 10.61 based on totals since 1991.

Before that, Lader said, the annual average stood at 11.59, thanks to a period of record precipitation in the 1980s. That unusually wet decade is no longer included in the current 30-year average, he said.

The Santa Cruz River was flowing strong Friday morning, July 23, 2021, after an overnight monsoon storm passed over Tucson. Video by: Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star

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Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@tucson.com or 573-4283. On Twitter: @RefriedBrean