June 15 Is Officially The Start Of Arizona's Monsoon Season

Published: Monday, June 15, 2015 - 6:05am
Updated: Monday, June 15, 2015 - 9:59am
(Photo by Kathy Ritchie - KJZZ)
Rain in Phoenix.

June 15 is the official start of the monsoon season in Arizona.

It may not feel like it when you go outside — dry weather conditions and increasing temperatures are forecast for the rest of the week.

Charlotte Dewey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said there hasn't always been an official monsoon start date.

"We used to go by dew point data," said Dewey. "We used to go by an average daily dew point of 55 degrees or higher for three consecutive days."

Dewey said with the recent rain, we came close to kicking off our monsoon season based on the old standard. The dew point has been above 55 degrees for three days, though they were not consecutive.  

Science