2011 Weather Summary

According to the National Weather Service in Tucson, AZ 

"2011 will be remembered for its weather extremes starting with a record low temperature on New Year's Day to a record cold snap in February, to enduring through record dry conditions during the 1st half of the year thanks to a strong La Niña, to one of the hottest summers on record, to a so-so monsoon until late September to a stormy, wet and cool November and December."

The following graphs show the deviations from normal  for daily high and low temperatures in Tucson.

 

January 2012 Pictures and December 2011 Data

Prickly Pear

December in Tucson was colder and wetter than normal.  Below normal temperatures occurred for the majority of the month. At the end of the month highs were above normal for a few days going into the new year. The average high temperature was 60.4 F (15.8 C) which is -4.4 F (-2.4 C) below normal. The average low temperature was 37.4 F (3.0 C). This is -1.7 F (-0.9 C) below normal. This made it the 20th coldest December on record that tied with a record in 1897.

A few different rain storms brought a total of 2.03" (51.56 mm) of rain to the official weather service site at the airport. At my location we received 2.20" (55.88 mm) of rain. In one day we received 1.24" (31.50mm) at my site. I have never received so much rain before and was thankful my rain gauge had an overflow basin. We were also grateful that none of our saguaros fell over in the rain. The last time we received 1.0" of rain in a day we lost a gigantic saguaro in our yard. See pictures below of downed saguaro from January 2010.

Healthy Saguaro after lots of rain

	Dec 2011	Normals	Deviation
Average High Temperature (°F)	60.4	64.8	-4.4
Average Low Temperature (°F)	37.4	39.1	-1.7
Average Temperature (°F)	48.9	51.9	-3.0
Number of 100° + highs	0	0	0
Rainfall (in) official	2.03	0.93	1.10
Rainfall (in) at location	2.20
	Dec 2011	Normals	Deviation
Average High Temperature (°C)	15.8	18.2	-2.4
Average Low Temperature (°C)	3.0	3.9	-0.9
Average Temperature (°C)	9.4	11.1	-1.7
Number of 100° + highs	0	0	0
Rainfall (mm) official	51.56	23.62	27.94
Rainfall (mm) at location	55.88

Fallen Saguaro 1-2010 Another view of saguaro 1-2010

Ocotillo Minus Leaves