Every Fall I do a post looking at historical Monsoon rainfall in Tucson, so let’s update it for 2023. After two big outliers in a row (2021 was 3rd wettest monsoon, 2020 was 2nd driest on record), 2023 followed last year as a comfortably “normal” (Exhibit 1). Exhibit 2 shows monthly rainfall in 2023 compared to Normal. We started off with a completely dry June, followed by a decent July (-10% compared to normal), a solid August (+21%) and a disappointing September (-74%). Overall, 2023 season was 17% below normal monsoon rainfall in Tucson.

Exhibit 1 – Annual Tucson Monsoons Totals

Exhibit 2 – 2023 Tucson Monsoon Compared to Normal

Exhibit 3 shows a comparison of 2023 season among major Desert Southwest metros. Las Vegas had a massive increase over its normal amount. Yuma did pretty ok too. The other metros clocked various degrees of underperformance relative to their normals. Our friends in Phoenix had a truly sad monsoon season with a barely worth mentioning 0.15 inches of rain or 94% below their already low normal. This showing was bad enough to set the record as the driest season on record (which goes back to 1896).

Exhibit 3 – 2023 Monsoon by City

All in all a pretty unremarkable year in monsoon stats (unless you happen to live in Phoenix).