Monsoon brought high hopes but delivered little rain in the Southwest

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - The monsoon season was a dud across much of the U.S. Southwest this year, bringing high hope but delivering little rainfall.

Several communities in northern Arizona had the driest monsoon season on record, including Flagstaff. Phoenix's season was the fifth driest recorded.

The seasonal weather pattern is characterized by a shift in wind patterns and moisture being pulled in from the tropical coast of Mexico. It runs from mid-June through the end of September.

Usually, it means rain that can cool down scorching cities, water crops and reduce wildfire risk. But it also can be disappointing. Despite a big storm a week ago, it hasn't made a difference in the light monsoon season.

"This works out to be one of the driest monsoons of all time that according to our records show," said Ken Waters, Warning Coordination Meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The Valley usually may get anywhere from two to six inches of rain during the monsoon season. For 2019, 0.66 inches of rain was recorded at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.

"We are seeing more inching back into drought conditions because of this monsoon," said Waters.

Meteorologists in the Valley say they issued 25 days of heat warnings in 2019, up from an average of about 12. It's not all bad news, however, as they say there was a lower amount of dust storms in the Valley.

"We believe that is due to nice winter rain, winter and spring rains we had that caused a lot of ground cover," said Waters. "It makes for less available dust."

NWS officials say they are going over data and atmospheric conditions to determine why it was such a light monsoon, and they are still working to determine if this means it will be a wet or dry winter.

The Associated Press (AP) contributed to this report.