Photos: Star photographers pick their favorite monsoon photos
Star photographers Kelly Presnell, Mamta Popat and Grace Trejo cover the monsoons every year and photograph many aspects. Here are their favorite three photos from years past.
Monsoon lightning, 2021
Updated
A bolt of lightning illuminates a column of rain drenching mid-town, part of a powerful monsoon cell that dropped rain, winds and hail over parts of Tucson, Ariz., July 20, 2021.
Monsoon, 2023
Updated
A rainbow arcs over the eastern sky behind a stand of saguaros along north Campbell Avenue, part of the scattered monsoon storm that rumbled over Tucson, Ariz., August 8, 2023.
Monsoon, 2022
Updated
The setting sun lights up the patchy monsoon clouds overhead as Omar Rojas Jr. works on pitching out of the stretch with his dad, Omar Sr., on the diamond at David G. Herrera and Ramon Quiroz Park, Tucson, Ariz., July 21, 2022. The two Omars were working out while daughter/sister Julissa practiced nearby with her softball team. Monsoon 2022 may finally bring the rain, with precipitation forecast this weekend and throughout the coming week.
Monsoon, 2023
Updated
Aurora Apodaca, left, lets out a laugh as she plays in the aftermath of a monsoon storm with Oscar Stump on the west side of Tucson in 2023.
Tucson weather, 2025
Updated
Kids take a ride on playground equipment at Joaquin Murrieta Park in Tucson, Ariz. under clouds that moved in early in the evening on June 30, 2025.
Monsoon, 2014
Updated
A woman watches the water flow down the Santa Cruz River from the Congress Street bridge on September 08, 2014. Tucson Police Department officers taped off a portion of the pedestrian/bike path along the Santa Cruz River that leads underneath Congress Street. A monsoon storm that dropped a record amount of rain on Monday. The closing of the path was a precaution due to the risk of the rising water.
Rainy day in Tucson, 2023
Updated
Scott Saas listens to music while rain showers continue throughout Southern Arizona, E. University Blvd, Dec. 1, 2023. Tucson is predicted to get anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of rain Friday.
Monsoon clouds, 2025
Updated
The "Balancing Act” sculpture poses underneath the dark cloudy skies as rain showers pass through Southern Arizona, 4502 North First Avenue, Tucson, Ariz., July 2, 2025.
Monsoon, 2025
Updated
A truck drives through flooded streets as heavy rain showers hit the city of Tucson, West Fort Lowell Road, Tucson, Ariz., July 3, 2025.
Mamta Popat
Photojournalist
Kelly Presnell
Photojournalist
Grace Trejo
Photojournalist
As featured on
Looking for easy answers about what's happening to our monsoon season? Good luck, says University of Arizona climatologist Mike Crimmins.
Tucson's monsoon season spans June 15 through Sept. 30. So far it has been a lot drier than usual across the much of the Metro area.
Both the seasonal monsoons and winter storms that have been so sparse this year are critical for groundwater recharge in the Tucson basin, but the winter precipitation contributes most to yearly recharge, says Wally Wilson, chief hydrologist for Tucson Water.
