The tail end of a weak storm system is moving through the state today, leading to cloudy skies over the valley and light rain/snow showers in northern Arizona. The infrared satellite imagery to the right from 9:45am LST, shows the cloud cover associated with this system, which should be round the rest of the day with some clearing anticipated overnight. There is also a slight chance of rainfall throughout the day today but anything that falls should be rather light.

Another, stronger, storm system is forecasted to move into the region Monday, which will be discussed in more detail later.

Afternoon high temperatures have been rather comfortable over the past few days but that is likely to change beginning today through the end of the week. A large ridge of high pressure will build into the Southwestern United States today through the week which will result in a steady increase in temperatures. Highs today will be in the upper 80’s to lower 90’s, Tuesday in the mid 90’s and Thursday and Friday temperatures will be in the mid to upper 90’s with some locations even reaching the century mark. Some cooling is expected this weekend.

Skies should be sunny to mostly sunny throughout the time period, with morning temperatures still nice in the mid to upper 60’s.

Weather Bus.com is proud to announce the addition of two full new stations. The first is located near McKellips and Country Club in Northwest Mesa and the second is located on the Mesa Community College campus located at Southern and Dobson in Southwest Mesa. Within a month a third station should be operational in Northeast Mesa near the intersection of McKellips and Power Road.

You can view the different stations by clicking on the links below or the links found at the top of each page. You can tell which station you are visiting based on the main header image on each page.
Gold Canyon - CLICK HERE
Northwest Mesa – CLICK HERE
Southeast Mesa – CLICK HERE

Please note the new stations are still in beta testing so always check the update time to ensure current conditions are being displayed. If you have any questions or comments please contact us.

A surge of moisture occurred overnight as a result of a large complex of thunderstorms over northern Mexico. This surge moved into the region around midnight resulting in windy conditions, blowing dust and most obviously this morning an increase in moisture. As a matter of fact, surface dew point temperatures are on the order of 10°F higher compared to this same time yesterday (see dew point graph to the right). With this surge and the southeasterly flow around the high pressure area centered near the Four Corners, the moisture content in the lower/middle atmosphere has increased fairly substantially in the past 24 hours. This will make for a better chance of storms moving off the higher terrain and moving into the valley later this afternoon and evening as compared to yesterday. Also outflows produced from thunderstorms in the higher terrain to the north, east and southeast will likely move through the valley producing gusty winds and possibly reduced visibility but also with the added moisture/instability over the valley storms could rapidly form along these outflow boundaries. Below is the Hazardous Weather Outlook produced by the National Weather Service in Phoenix regarding the hazards for today and tonight.

.DAY ONE…TODAY AND TONIGHT
AN UPSWING IN THUNDERSTORM CHANCES IS EXPECTED. IF STORMS FORM…THEY WILL LIKELY PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING DUST ALONG WITH LOCALIZED BRIEF HEAVY RAIN. LOCALIZED DAMAGING STRENGTH WINDS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE ALONG WITH LIGHTNING.

With a continued moist atmosphere and a steering flow conducive to bringing storms into the valley a decent chance of thunderstorms will be in the forecast for the Fourth of July as well.

Very hot temperatures were seen across the valley today (July 2nd) as an area of strong high pressure built in over the Four Corners. The temperature at our station in Northwest Mesa reached 115.4°F at 2:42pm and the station in Gold Canyon reached 113.5°F at 1:23pm. This 113.5°F is the second highest temperature we have ever recorded at our Gold Station station since our records began in April 2001. The highest temperature we have ever recorded is 113.8°F which occurred way back on July 21, 2006 and is actually the last time the temperature has been in the 113’s.

Phoenix Sky Harbor had a max temperature of 118°F today (July 2nd) which breaks the record of 116°F set in 2006. Below is the Public Information Statement released by the National Weather Service in Phoenix regarding this event.

THE HIGH TEMPERATURE SO FAR TODAY AT PHOENIX SKY HARBOR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HAS BEEN 117 DEGREES. THIS BREAKS THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 116 SET IN 2001. THIS IS ALSO THE HOTTEST DAY IN PHOENIX SINCE IT WAS 118 ON 21 JULY 2006. WEATHER OBSERVATIONS FOR PHOENIX BEGAN IN AUGUST 1895.

This area of high pressure is not only responsible for the high temperatures, it is also allowing for moisture to move into the region from the east and southeast resulting in the thunderstorms seen today and the continued chance of afternoon/evening thunderstorms through at least the middle of next week.