Climate – Not that bad for “morning” people
Summer climate in Central Arizona is NOT nearly as bad as rumored … at least not at 6 AM when it’s typically 80° to 85° and less than 20% humidity … about as good as it gets for golf, jogging, or whatever. Just have a cool place to be by Noon.
The summer daily high temperatures do not occur until about 4 PM, and 100° temps often persist until 9 PM.
So … “Morning” people who work indoors don’t mind the summer here that much. “Evening” people don’t like summer at all.
Lots of rain and snow … elsewhere in Arizona
You may be surprised that parts of Arizona get lots of rain and snow. As shown in tables below, Flagstaff, for example, averages over seven (7) feet of snow annually. Perhaps also surprising, Arizona has the largest forest of ponderosa pine, the perfect lumber tree, outside Russia.
The Arizona Climate may be unique for the planet. Nearly half of the state is higher in elevation that Denver, the “mile high city”, with the snow and cold that goes with that in winter. Of course, the southwest corner of the State is one of the hottest areas in the USA every July. In between is the full range of possibilities.
No Natural Disasters
Arizona has near-zero natural disaster events … such as hurricanes, tornadoes, mud slides, earthquakes, ice storms, etc.
Dust storms, referred to as a “haboob”, can be rather dramatic and get a good deal of media attention but the worst effect by most of these is a dirty car.
As noted above, Arizona does have very large forests, so forest fire is an event that can happen. Fortunately, there have been very few major forest fires in Arizona. However, the was a well publicized 2013 fire in which 19 fire fighters lost their lives.
Summer Outdoors
Summer outdoors in Central Arizona is rather serious after Noon … this is not a time and place for laboring outside, or to leave perishables in a parked car, even for a few minutes.
But Central Arizona is “the” place to be October through April – just ask any of the million-plus snowbirds who visit then.
Climate variation due to metro-Phoenix Elevation Differences
Elevation in metro Phoenix varies from about 1,100 feet at the airport to over 2,700 feet in far-North Scottsdale, where the annual averages are about 3° cooler with over 3 inches more rain.
| Metro Phoenix Climate | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | Yr |
| Rain – inches | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.76 | 0.32 | 0.14 | 0.12 | 0.75 | 1.2 | 0.69 | 0.46 | 0.46 | 0.82 | 7.1 |
| Daily High Temp – °F | 66 | 75 | 80 | 86 | 95 | 106 | 107 | 104 | 100 | 94 | 76 | 67 | 88 |
| Daily Low Temp – °F | 44 | 50 | 53 | 60 | 68 | 80 | 84 | 83 | 75 | 70 | 53 | 45 | 64 |
| % Humidity | 43 | 47 | 47 | 27 | 29 | 17 | 32 | 38 | 27 | 25 | 25 | 54 | 34 |
| % Sun | 78 | 80 | 84 | 88 | 93 | 94 | 85 | 85 | 89 | 88 | 83 | 77 | 85 |
|
Average Annual Precipitation |
Yuma | Phoenix | Tucson | Prescott | Flagstaff |
| Rain – inches | 3.0 | 7.1 | 10.7 | 18.1 | 19.8 |
| Snow – inches | 0 | 0 | 0.6 | 23.7 | 84.4 |
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Other Interesting Things about Arizona
