The monsoon season has slowly helped Southern Arizona recover from ongoing drought issues, improving Tucson's drought conditions by one category. 

According to the National Weather Service, Tucson has gone from a D4-exceptional drought to a D3-extreme drought. 

Washes and rivers were flowing steadily Friday morning after a monsoon storm swept through Tucson the night before. More than two inches of rain were reported in some parts of Tucson.

With a surge in storms this past weekend, the NWS said it expected drought conditions to improve over the next several weeks with help from the monsoon activity.

“We are not out of this yet, but it is definitely helping,” the NWS said.

So far this monsoon season, the Tucson International Airport has seen a total of 5.88 inches of rain, the NWS said. This month's storms have made this the wettest monsoon through July 25.

The monoon season officially runs from June 15 to Sept. 30.

The July rainfall — 5.71 inches — makes this the fourth-wettest July and the sixth-wettest month on record. An average July during Tucson's monsoon season receives 1.79 inches of rain, the NWS said.

Throughout the past week, the Catalina Foothills area has had 2 to 3 inches of rainfall, the NWS said. Within the past 30 days, the Foothills area has seen 6 to 7 inches of rain.

Tucson’s metro area has seen a little over 2 inches of rainfall this week, the NWS said. Areas in the northwest have seen 2 to 3 inches of rainfall while the south side has topped 2 inches.

Tucson temperatures also have broken records. Tucson peaked at 77 degrees Saturday, setting a record for the coolest high temperature for July 24, according to the NWS. The previous record was 79 degrees set in 1912.

Saturday was also the first July day with a high below 80 degrees since 1998, the NWS said. Sunday's temperature was similar to Saturdays with an expected high of 77 and a low of 69. 

The NWS said July highs in the 70s are rare, and Tucson has had only 11 July days with high temperatures in the 70s since records began in 1894. The record for lowest high in July is 74 degrees, set in 1914 and matched in 1921. The average high temperature for July is 99 degrees, the NWS said.

Even though heavy storms shook up Tucson this past weekend, the NWS said it expects Monday to have a little less monsoon activity as the weather system that has been causing the storms moves west. Warmer temperatures are also expected this week with highs in the 90s. 

Drier days are expected throughout the beginning of the week, but there are indications that monsoon activity will start up again toward the end of the week, the NWS said.

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