Two days in a row with the high officially at 99º F. Will today be the magic day we get to 100º officially for the first time since 2003?
Earlier this morning the dewpoint hit 50º. That’s a sure sign the monsoons are near. In Arizona the monsoon season is said to begin after three consecutive days with the dewpoint averaging 55º or higher.
In the United States, Arizona and New Mexico are located on the northern fringe of the Mexican monsoon. For most of the year, winds aloft over the southwest U.S. are west to northwest. During the summer, winds turn to a more south to southeast direction, importing moisture from the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of California, and the Gulf of Mexico.
As this moisture moves into the southwest…a combination of orographic uplift (air being forced to rise by the mountains), daytime heating from the sun, and weak upper level disturbances moving across the region causes thunderstorms to develop across the region.
Not yet, but soon.
By the way, June usually has the hottest daytime high temperatures in Albuquerque, but July and August are warmer on average because it doesn’t cool down at night as much.
And there is already three minutes less daylight than there was on June 21st.