Sat, Jul 04, 2009

Tucson Region

Monsoon season is here — yes, really

By Tom Beal
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.15.2008
Ahhhh, the cooling, moisturizing balm of our second summer — the monsoon season — arrived at midnight.
Today's high is expected to be around 107 degrees.
The chance of rain is zero percent.
But take heart — we're actually ahead of schedule if you think of this season in phases, the way the National Weather Service does.
This year, as the weather service proclaims a monsoon season from June 15 to Sept. 30 for the first time, it is also providing a fuller explanation of how the monsoon works on its "geeked up" monsoon Web page.
Take a peek and you'll find there is hope on the horizon. Wet weather has arrived down south a little earlier than normal.
The first phase of our monsoon — the one that doesn't bring rain to Tucson — has begun.