November wraps up on a warm note - Tucson News Now

November wraps up on a warm note

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Here is the latest on the month of November. We finished on a warm note, but that is just the beginning. Here is the latest National Weather Service report:

source: National Weather Service Tucson

 

 

The warm and drier than normal conditions that prevailed during September and October continued through November.
 

The first week on November was very warm with highs in the 80s to the lower 90s. A pair of weather systems moved through the area from the 8th to the 11th and brought much cooler temperatures along with valley rain and light high elevation mountain snow showers. The high temperature on the 11th was only 59° which was pretty close to the record coolest high temperature for the 11th (56° in 1982).
 

The remainder of the month was warm to very warm and dry. The warmest conditions during the last half of the month occurred during the 4-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend where the average temperature was 67.1° which easily broke the previous record of 66.1° from 1950.
 
The average temperature for November will end up around 64.8° which is 5° above normal and ranks as the 3rd warmest on record. The top two warmest November's on record are 65.7° in 2007 and 65.4° in 1999. Temperature extremes for the month ranged from a high of 90° on the 6th and 7th to a low of 35° on the 12th. Two temperature records were set/tied during November from a record tying high of 90° on the 7th (2007) to a record setting high minimum temperature of 60° on the 8th (breaking old record of 59° from 1931 & 1988).

November rainfall across the metro area, using several sources like rainlog.org and the Pima County Regional Flood Control District gages, ranged from a Trace to 0.50" with the southern part of the metro area seeing the least amount of rain while the northern sections saw the higher totals. Officially, the International airport recorded only 0.03" of rain which is slightly over a half an inch below normal ranks as the 26th DRIEST November on record.
 
November 2012 stats
Month
Normal
Departure
Average high temperature
79.6°
73.5°
+ 6.1°
Average low temperature
49.9°
46.1°
+ 3.8°
Average temperature
64.8°
59.8°
+ 5.0°
Rainfall
0.03"
0.57"
- 0.54"
Fall 2012
 
Fall 2012 was a very warm one as it goes into the record books as either the 3rd or 4th warmest (pending temperatures from 29th & 30th) on record with an average temperature around 73.4° or 73.5°. The three warmest Fall seasons on record were 74° in 1999, 73.8° in 2007 and 73.5° in 2001. Temperature extremes ranged from 103 degrees on September 2nd to a low of 35 degrees on November 12th.

Rainfall amounts across the metro area for the Fall season, using several sources like rainlog.org, the Pima County Regional Flood Control District gages and CoCoRaHS, varied greatly ranging from two-tenths of an inch to slightly over 2". At the airport, which is the official recording location in Tucson, 0.41" was recorded which ranks as the 5th driest Fall on record. The four Fall seasons drier than 2012 are 0.18" in 1953, 0.36" in 1979 & 2005 and 0.37" in 1955.
 
Fall 2012 stats
Season
Normal
Departure
Average high temperature
87.5°
84.2°
+ 3.3°
Average low temperature
59.4°
57.3°
+ 2.1°
Average temperature
73.5°
70.8°
+ 2.7°
Rainfall
0.41"
2.75"
- 2.34"
2012

The average yearly temperature of 73.0° ranks as the 3rd warmest on record to date, right behind 73.1° from 1989 and 2009. Based on the historical record, 2012 is guaranteed to end up ranked as one of the top 5 warmest years on record.

The 2012 rainfall totals across the metro area ranged widely from around 4" to nearly 13". At the airport, which is the official recording location in Tucson, 6.73" has been recorded which ranks as the 12th driest January thru November period on record.

 
2012 stats thru November
Year
Normal
Departure
Average high temperature
87.4°
84.9°
+ 2.5°
Average low temperature
58.6°
57.2°
+ 1.4°
Average temperature
73.0°
71.1°
+ 1.9°
Number of 100°+ highs
73
62
+ 8
Rainfall
6.73"
10.66"
- 3.93"
 
 
Looking ahead into December
The Climate Prediction Center forecasts enhanced probabilities for above normal temperatures and equal chance of above, normal or below normal precipitation.
  Daily normals | Daily records
Normal high temperature 64.3°
Normal low temperature 39.8°
Normal monthly temperature 52.0°
Record high temperature 85° on December 29, 1991 (last of 4 occurrences)
Record low temperature 10° on December 14, 1901
Warmest December (avg) 58.1° in 1980
Coldest December (avg) 45.0° in 1911
Normal rainfall 1.07"
Wettest December day 2.15" on December 6, 1906
Wettest December 5.85" in 1914
Driest December 0.00" in 1991 (last of 6 occurrences)
Record December snowfall 6.8" in 1971 (8th)
   
The number of daylight hours will increase from 10 hours 12 minutes on the 1st to 10 hours 5 minutes on the 31st, a loss of 7 minutes.
 
Looking ahead into Winter 2012-13

The Climate Prediction Center forecasts enhanced probabilities for above normal temperatures and equal chance of above, normal or below normal precipitation.
   
Normal high temperature 66.2°
Normal low temperature 40.3°
Normal seasonal temperature 53.2°
Warmest Winter (avg.) 56.6° in 1980-1981
Coldest Winter (avg.) 46.8° in 1912-1913
Normal Winter rainfall 2.73"
Wettest Winter 6.80" in 1971-1972
Driest Winter 0.01" in 2005-2006
Astronomical winter will begin on December 21st at 4:12 am MST when the sun reaches the southern most latitude part of the earth (23.4 degrees south or the Tropic of Capricorn).