2011: Another big record breaking year for weather in Phoenix

PHOENIX - 2011 was a wild year for weather in Phoenix; record cold, record heat and lots and lots of dust!

Rainfall was once again below normal. We finished out the year with only 4.66 inches of rain at Sky Harbor, over three and a half inches below normal. (Our Valley average rainfall was even lower at just under four inches.) That put 2011 at number 21 in the rankings for the driest years we have seen on record (since 1896).

Our 2011 temperatures stacked up like this:

Average High – 87.1 degrees (Tied 14th warmest)

Average Low – 63.3 degrees (Tied 18th warmest)

Average Overall Temperature – 75.2 degrees (Tied 14th warmest)

We started out unusually cold.  It was the 4th coldest start to a year ever recorded in Phoenix. We had a below freezing start of 30 degrees and a high of only 49 degrees.

Our summer heat started early, though, with our first triple digit day on April 1. That was the second earliest 100 degree day ever. The record earliest was set back on March 26, 1988.

The sizzling heat turned out to be exceptionally intense. Overall, we survived the second hottest summer on record and the hottest monsoon season on record. We set 14 daily temperature records, including the hottest day we have ever seen in the month of August as we soared to 117 degrees on August 26.

Monsoon 2011 was a dry one with lots of blowing dust and sand. We saw an unprecedented number of giant haboobs and smaller dust storms across Maricopa and Pinal counties. The biggest hit on July 5, stretching the width of the entire Valley (approximately 60-70 miles) and soaring over the Estrella Mountains (approximately 5,000 feet high) as it moved in from the south/southwest.

We finally got a break with some nice, relatively cool and sometimes wet days in the fall.

Then, we closed out 2011 with below normal temperatures and above normal rainfall in December.

La Nina did start to intensify by the end of December, bringing nice, sunny days in the 70s through Christmas and an already record breaking start to 2012. (We tied the record of 81 degrees in Phoenix on January 1, 2012.)