By John Simpson
November 2019 was the wettest November, at my place in Central Del Lago, in this decade. I recorded 2.58 inches of rain for the month, which is well above my 9-year average of 0.72 inches and an inch above the second wettest November this decade, when 1.57 inches fell in November 2013.
November 2019 was quite wet throughout southern Arizona. The Tucson Airport recorded its 7th wettest November since the 1880s. 2.32 inches of rain was recorded and the airport’s 30-year November average is 0.57 inches. Some locations just to our East in Cochise County had their wettest November since records have been taken. Generally, 3-6 inches of rain fell in this area. The Douglas Airport for example recorded 4.62 inches of rain where 0.69 inches is average.
Vail and points westward missed out on one major rain event that Cochise county caught the brunt of. Even though the monsoon was generally down during July and August, 2019 will most likely be my second wettest year this decade (and above average) since winter.
September, and November rains were plentiful this year. On the temperature side, the Tucson airport recorded its 9th warmest November on record. This is because the first 19 days of the month were warm and dry. Almost no rain fell from September 26th to November 18th, but on either side of this window, heavy rainfall occurred.
For next month’s article, I will discuss December and wrap up 2019. I will also discuss the yearly average temperature for the Tucson airport and finally we may have a year that will not be in the top 20 warmest years since records have been taken.
