{"id":424796,"date":"2025-12-04T19:53:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T19:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/424796\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T19:53:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T19:53:13","slug":"what-it-means-for-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/424796\/","title":{"rendered":"What it means for drought"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

PHOENIX \u2013 While long-term drought conditions still persist, a leading Arizona climate expert said Phoenix\u2019s wettest fall on record was a welcome sight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been in a drought since 1994, so there\u2019s a lot to make up there,\u201d Erinanne Saffell, whose titles include Arizona State Climatologist and Arizona State University professor, told KTAR News 92.3 FM\u2019s Arizona\u2019s Morning News on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Saffell, who is director of the Arizona State Climate Office, explained that the record wet autumn helped the area catch up after the state\u2019s third driest January-August stretch on record.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been great,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re mitigating some of that short-term drought, and we\u2019re happy to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n

How much did it rain in Phoenix in fall 2025?<\/p>\n

September-November is what climatologists consider meteorological fall. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, which the National Weather Service uses for the city\u2019s official records, received 6.31 inches of rainfall during that span as several major storm systems<\/a> hit the area.<\/p>\n

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Meteorological fall 2025 (Sep, Oct, Nov) is officially the wettest on record for Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport as it registered 6.31″ of rain. In fact, approximately 76% of the total annual rainfall recorded at Sky Harbor Airport so far has occurred since September 1st. #azwx<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Z5ee49YsKF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NWS Phoenix (@NWSPhoenix) December 2, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That broke the previous record of 6.18 inches set back in 1939.<\/p>\n

The Phoenix rainfall totals don\u2019t always reflect activity in other parts of the Valley, but it was a pretty good indicator of how wet it was across the region this fall, Saffel said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeer Valley was wet. Scottsdale was wet. \u2026 We have hundreds of weather stations across the state, but if we look at Maricopa County, that looks like we\u2019re going to have the wettest fall from Maricopa County,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

What does Drought Monitor say after Phoenix\u2019s wettest fall on record?<\/p>\n

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map<\/a> provides additional insight into the impact of Phoenix\u2019s wettest fall.<\/p>\n

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Three months ago, all of Maricopa County was classified as at least D2 (severe drought) on the map, with about 20% at the D3 level (extreme drought). The Drought Monitor scale goes up to D4, or exceptional drought.<\/p>\n

As of Thursday, conditions had improved to the point where no areas were worse than D1 (moderate drought) on the county map and 4% of the region had no drought.<\/p>\n

Phoenix\u2019s wettest fall prepares soil for snowfall runoff<\/p>\n

Phoenix\u2019s wettest fall will pay off down the road when it comes to the Valley\u2019s water supply, part of which comes from winter snowfall runoff from mountains in northern and eastern Arizona.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving that wet fall is really helpful because that fall precipitation is great for our soils. It gets them in shape for our winter snowpack,\u201d Saffel explained. \u201cAnd so when our winter snowpack melts in spring, having the soil in a good place right now helps that snowpack move into our water supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, she said La Ni\u00f1a<\/a> conditions in the Pacific Ocean could indicate a dry winter is coming, although it\u2019s too soon to make firm predictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in that La Ni\u00f1a kind of situation, which statistically for our winters in Arizona means we won\u2019t have as much of a storm event, but we certainly can get those storms and we will get some snowpack. And so, we just kind of wait and see and see what happens,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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