PHOENIX — As Arizona's monsoon ended Monday, the final numbers mark it as one of the worst monsoons during the hottest summer on record.
According to the National Weather Service, 2024 was the hottest year recorded. But now that monsoon is over, it is tied for the 7th driest monsoon in history.
While some parts of the Valley saw large amounts of rain, the official measure is Sky Harbor International Airport. The total from that weather station is about an inch and a half of rain.
“We're looking for a certain placement of a high pressure," Tom Frieders with the National Weather Service in Phoenix said. "Mainly off to our Northeast, and that allows flow of moisture in from the Gulf.”
But, Frieders said, that didn't happen this year.
The monsoon officially ended on Monday and temperatures continue to shatter records.
“We were hoping we wouldn't see those extreme conditions this year," Frieders said, "and here we are talking about the extreme heat, and we're breaking records from last year."
Temperatures for the coming week will top 108 degrees every day.
What is the Valley?
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
Mesa
Chandler
Scottsdale
Tempe
Glendale
Surprise
Peoria
Gilbert
El Mirage
Avondale
Litchfield Park
Goodyear
Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.