Phoenix Eyes New Zero Precip. Record

[Joe Zemek]

Having seen our sketchy 30% chance of showers vanish in blue today, and with no systems in sight through Sunday, it appears that Phoenix will break its record of 101 days with no measureable precipitation.

Last recorded precip day at Sky Harbor Int'l Airport was October 18.

We stand in dusty solidarity with our Southern Plains brethren.

 

[Alex Lamers]

Last recorded precip day at Sky Harbor Int'l Airport was October 18.

Impressively awful. I would go crazy, especially as a forecaster. :shock:

...Alex Lamers...

 

[Joel Wright]

That is amazing, even for Phoenix. It seems like most of the country besides the northwest is experiencing some sort of a dry spell.


We should have some fun with this...have everyone pick a date or something for when the next measurable precipitation is measured.

 

[B Ozanne]

I believe today was the day for a slight chance of precip...looks like they made it through with nothing. Forecast is dry for the rest of the week.

 

[Robert Dewey]

I can't really say that it's been dry here considering we get a good rain storm just about every week... But it has been snowless.

I'm hoping that this warm/dry winter doesn't turn into a cold/wet spring. Better pray for some snowstorms

 

[Tim Vasquez]

"When Phoenix is visited by winter drought and dust
The Texas cap in April leads to a bust"

Seriously I have no factual information on that... it's just speculation about the type of EML air mass we might be seeing.

Tim

 

[B Ozanne]

In case you are wondering, Phoenix sailed through the 101 day mark. No precip insight either. At least not for the next 6 days.

 

[Joe Zemek]

Yeah, we're not going to break the record by a measly day or two. We're going to clobber it.

Well, the GFS shows some decent mid-upper moisture riding into AZ on a developing southern jet... at 240 hrs... I'm sure that will pan out. Still, it's something to hope for; a taste of Pineapple Express.

 

[Susan Strom]

This dryness is so weird, esp after all that rain we had last winter. (The Sonoran Desert has two rainy seasons - winter and monsoon, they are totally different). I'm tired of shocking myself on the doorknobs.

 

[Chuck Vlcek]

Originally posted by Joe Zemek
Yeah, we're not going to break the record by a measly day or two. We're going to clobber it.

Well, the GFS shows some decent mid-upper moisture riding into AZ on a developing southern jet... at 240 hrs... I'm sure that will pan out. Still, it's something to hope for; a taste of Pineapple Express.

You can have it. I'm drowning in pineapple juice! :roll:

 

[Chuck Vlcek]

Originally posted by Susan Strom
This dryness is so weird, esp after all that rain we had last winter. (The Sonoran Desert has two rainy seasons - winter and monsoon, they are totally different). I'm tired of shocking myself on the doorknobs.

:idea: 1) Place camera on tripod
2) Aim camera at doorknob
3) Set shutter at 5 seconds
4) Set 10-second delay timer
5) Turn out light
6) Scuff feet on carpet
7) Listen for shutter
8) Touch doorknob

That should cure your SDS and add to your great lightning portfolio!

 

[Joe Zemek]

Two factors varying wildly in scientific basis have combined to lend confidence to model-indicated potential for measureable rain on Sunday.

1) The observance of a lunar halo Monday night. It won't be within 96 hours of any local precip, but at least there was one. Maybe there'll be another one Friday-ish.

2) This week's resumption of irrigation (following winter canal maintenance). My irrigation schedule has eerily corresponded with rainfall. It's like washing your car.

For the record, today was the 120th consecutive rainless day.

 

[David Wolfson]

... Better explain residential irrigation for the non-Phoenecians, Joe.... The Phoenix area has three dark, dirty secrets that surprise non-residents:

1) Salt River Project (SRP) irrigation. Thanks to government largesse in the past many residences are entitled to receive huge quantities of scarce water for a very low cost to irrigate their property. Water is distributed through a canal system into laterals and then to distribution gates by SRP. Employees, called zanjeros as a courtesy to hispanic heritage, open and close gates, and generally monitor water distributions. Property owners are responsible for the distribution system downflow of the distribution gates.

In the case of my fixer-upper in central Phoenix, a rather large pipe runs under a supermarket parking lot to a gate box where sliding steel plates direct flow either to my property or to a baptist church about a block away. My pipe runs under several neighbors' driveways.

It's the responsibility of the property owner (or agent) to check the water distribution schedule and ensure the water is properly directed. Seasonal schedules vary, and one year the water distributions varied among about 8 a.m., 4 p.m., and 1 a.m. (!!! :shock: ).

2) Municipal boundaries drawn by an Etch-a-Sketch. The Phoenix metropolitan area comprises something like 27 municipalities. They compete with one another to annex unincorporated developed tax-paying property and avoid annexing expensive infrastructure such as roadways. Some areas look like they were laid out fractally with five-foot strips spiralling and looping around one another. Unbelievable, often humorous, and without compare anywhere else.

3) Coccidioidomycosis ("Valley Fever"). Endemic throughout the deserts of Arizona and southern California, plus some of the California central valley. It is an illness borne by spores that live in the soil. Valley fever is rather mild and flu-like when contracted by most people and usually confers lifetime immunity. However for tens of thousands of people it's much more serious, involving severe respiratory consequences, permanent susceptability, and even death. Most people will have to deal with it if they live here for any substantial time, and there is no cure.

The Convention and Visitors' Bureau doesn't brag about coccidioidomycosis.

 

[Joerg Kachelmann]

OK, convinced, I won't visit Phoenix. However, MOS still calls for a 20% to 30% prob of a bit more than a trace for one of the two Phoenix stations:

http://weather.us

 

[Joe Zemek]

David, great job keeping more people from moving here! :wink:

I should add that the irrigation system was originally emplaced to water citrus groves, which many neighborhoods were built over. This results in one side of my street receiving irrigation and florally flush, while the other side is more or less xeriscaped.

Anyhoo, not too much chance for measureable rain in metro PHX today, and what was the more promising system is going to pass too far N on Saturday night. Water vapor is nice to look at, but SFC Td is a measly 17F.

I think the rainless streak survives the weekend intact.