One month into the monsoon season, which officially began June 15, Tucson has yet to record any rainfall.
There has been some monsoon rain in the overall metro area, particularly Vail on the southeast side, but not at Tucson International Airport, where the city's official weather gauges are.
That means the city is approaching the record for the latest official start of monsoon rain, set on July 20, 1901, the National Weather Service says.
That's for measurable rain. If you're talking about a trace of rain, we've already blown past Tucson's previous record for the latest trace to begin the season — July 11 in 1915 and 1955 — and we still don't have a trace this season.
And, Tucson set another record this week, when it marked three consecutive days with lows of 85 degrees or warmer.
That streak could keep going if the temperature doesn't drop below 85 by midnight today, Saturday, July 15, since our morning low was 86, the weather service noted.
Today's high this afternoon is expected to be near 111 degrees and tomorrow's near 113.
The city has recorded 3.60 inches of rain since Jan. 1, but none since May 19.
Once the Tucson area's monsoon storms do ramp up, please send us your photos and videos of them to be featured in an upcoming gallery on tucson.com. Email them to eds@tucson.com, and please include the date and location.
A weather service meteorologist had previously said July 25, 1987 held the record for latest start to Tucson's monsoon rain, but that was actually the latest start to the city's monsoon season as it was previously defined — when the average dew point was at least 54 degrees for three consecutive days.
That definition is no longer used, and since 2008, the season has been officially defined as running from June 15 through Sept. 30.
The 2023 monsoon has yet to arrive so we're taking a look back at last year's stormy season in Tucson.
