Arizona… home of the heat dome!

It’s so hot in Arizona, no it’s not the start of a joke, it’s actually super hot in Arizona! Anyone who has traveled through Arizona already knows that the heat there is no joke; this year alone the heat in Phoenix has already broken record reaching 113 degrees! Summer hasn’t officially began!

Last year’s heat in Arizona was so extreme that the medical examiner’s office was over capacity due to heat-related deaths that officials had to bring in coolers to store the bodies. This year, doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better! However, the people of Arizona are hoping that the heat will calm down a bit with monsoon rain. Yes, you read that right, “monsoon” rain.

There is most definitely a monsoon season in the Arizona desert; and to get the rains to bless the desert, it needs to get really hot first!

Arizona’s monsoon season starts on June 15 and runs through September 30 every year. This period is characterized by increased humidity and frequent thunderstorms, which can bring heavy rainfall, strong winds, and sometimes even flash flooding to the region. The monsoon season significantly impacts the desert landscape, providing much-needed moisture and relief from the intense summer heat.

With monsoon season underway, it doesn’t always mean that there will be rain in the forecast everyday. Robert Cerveny, a professor of geographical sciences at Arizona State University, told KTAR News 92.3 FM:

People have to realize that it doesn’t start out wet, that the first few weeks of our monsoon are dry. That means a lot of lightning, a lot of wind, very little rain, and those are the perfect recipes … for wildfires.

With a dry season and brutal temperatures, I’m sure everyone in Arizona patiently await the first rainfall of monsoon season! You can learn more about Arizona’s monsoon season here.