Kaya Al-Amawi (left) and her mother, Margaret Al-Amawi, take Kaya's 5-month-old son Christopher for a stroll under big blooming paloverde trees along the walking path near Greasewood Road on the West Side. The elder woman said she suffers from allergies from all the pollen in the air.
The year is off to a roaring start when it comes to temperatures. January, February and March combined were the second warmest on record, the National Weather Service said.
March was the seventh warmest since Old Pueblo record keeping began in the 1890s, John Glueck, who compiles Tucson statistics for the weather service, wrote in a monthly roundup.
Rainfall lagged far below normal for March. The 0.18 of an inch that fell at the airport ranks as the 24th driest March in more than 100 years. The city has received less than half of its normal rain since October 1, the start of the water year that scientists use.
The area has had 2.69 inches compared to the normal 5.59 inches, based on a 30-year average.
Warmer-than-normal temperatures and lower-than-average precipitation across the state in March led to a “dramatic” snowpack dip, which will mean less water in the state’s reservoirs later in the year, said a March 24 outlook by the Climate Assessment for the Southwest.
Much of Arizona got less than 50 percent of normal rainfall for the winter, and some parts got less than 5 percent, CLIMAS reported.
Though most reservoir levels along the Colorado and Salt rivers were above last year’s levels for March, that means the Colorado reservoirs were hovering around 50 percent full.
A long-lead forecast for April-June calls for a increased chance of above average temperatures and normal rainfall.
A June-August forecast calls for above average rainfall, according to the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.
The weather service is calling for temperatures around 80 for the rest of this week, with lows around 50. No rain is forecast.
A carpenter bee pollinates the blossoms on a paloverde tree on a warm spring day.
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March by the numbers
Seventh warmest on record
0.18 of an inch of rain (0.81 normal)
91 degrees, highest temperature (March 2)
38 degrees, lowest temperature (March 28)
2.90 inches, rainfall deficit from normal since Oct. 1
Source: National Weather Service