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Record rainfall, surging rivers and a forever changed Sabino Canyon — all marks of this year's monsoon.

The season, which began June 28, was the sixth-wettest on record, only a few drops shy of cracking the top-five wettest monsoons in Tucson's recorded history. The season ended Saturday.

While the summer's storms brought much-needed rain to the area, they also caused millions of dollars' worth of damage to homes, roads and recreational areas.

They also were deadly.

One man was killed after being swept away in a South Side wash after more than an inch of rain fell in a few hours in early September.

Though the season didn't come close to erasing years of drought in Southern Arizona, it definitely helped, meteorologists say. And with conditions right for El Niño this winter, Tucson could be looking at one of the wettest years on record.

Tucson International Airport recorded 10.20 inches of rain during this year's monsoon, said Pamela Elslager, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The average rainfall during a monsoon is 6.06 inches.

The 2006 monsoon trails the fifth-wettest season by only a few sprinkles. The record monsoon mark was set in 1964.

Other parts of Tucson were drenched, recording more than a foot of rainfall around Sabino Canyon. More than 2 feet fell atop Mount Lemmon.

While the summer brought plenty of triple-digit days, Tucson's heat was nothing compared with Phoenix's.

On Sunday, the Valley of the Sun recorded its 102nd day of 100-degree heat. Tucson has recorded 50 100-degree days this year.

While a portion of Sabino Canyon is open to the public, much of the popular recreation area remains closed after a July storm brought water, dirt and rocks down canyon walls.

The storm took out restrooms, bridges and sections of the road that led up the canyon.

Initial plans to repair parts of the canyon will begin soon, but it's unlikely that the destination will ever return to its pre-storm form. The time and millions of dollars it would take to repair the damage have some people saying it's better to leave nature alone. Others want to try to make repairs.

Summer storms also wreaked havoc on homes on the Northwest and East sides, causing millions of dollars in damage.

Pima County supervisors moved earlier this month to buy six properties damaged by flooding, which would cost an estimated $2 million. More purchases could be upcoming.

For Pam Bauerlein and her family, the record rain was both a blessing and a curse.

The storms flooded the family's home on the East Side near Kolb and Sabino Canyon roads.

The family of five lived at a hotel for nearly two months, moving back into their home last week.

"Its kind of a mixed bag of emotions," Bauerlein said of the rain. "In spite of all that we went through, it was nice to see the desert so green."

Parts of the home and surrounding property still need to be repaired, but the family was anxious to return home, she said.

Bauerlein said she hopes the county will build a retaining wall to keep the water off her property, which she says would be cheaper than buying the home.

The monsoon also claimed the life of 44-year-old Louie Matus, who was caught in a flooded wash near East Irvington Road and South Fletcher Avenue.

A few hours after Matus disappeared, his body was found on a sandbar in the Santa Cruz River on the Northwest Side.

There were more storm-related emergency calls this year than in 2005, but people are finally learning to stay away from washes during the monsoon, said Capt. Paul McDonough, a Tucson Fire Department spokesman.

"There were a lot of people doing the right things this year," he said.

Still, there were plenty of close calls.

One Southwest Side gale snapped a handful of utility poles and downed power lines that trapped about 20 people inside their cars for a few hours. No one was injured.

With the tropical effect known as El Niño on the way this winter, Tucson could see more rain before the end of the year, said Chris Rasmussen, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

A normal winter sees 2.90 inches of rain. With El Niño in full effect, Tucson could see even more, Rasmussen said.

El Niño occurs every two to seven years when equatorial waters in the Pacific Ocean are warmed. This causes a shift in normal weather patterns.