- Slug: Monsoon 2022
- Runtime: 1:22
- Downloadable audio here. (Note: Some web browsers may not support media download)
Byline: Evan Lis/Cronkite News
HOST INTRO:
PROLONGED, PERSISTENT DROUGHT CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BLANKET MUCH OF THE WESTERN U-S THIS SPRING. THAT’S THE LATEST FROM THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION CRONKITE NEWS’S EVAN LIS REPORTS THIS NEWS COMES ON THE HEELS OF A DRY WINTER .
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ARIZONA HAD A DRY AND WARM WINTER WHICH DIDN’T BRING MUCH SNOWPACK TO THE MOUNTAINS. NOW NOAA’S SPRING WEATHER OUTLOOK SHOWS THAT ALL OF ARIZONA HAS AT LEAST A FIFTY PERCENT CHANCE OF SEEING DROUGHT CONDITIONS DEVELOP OR WORSEN THROUGH THE END OF SPRING. A DROUGHT OUTLOOK LIKE THIS ONE IS PRODUCED BY LOOKING AT THE CURRENT STATE OF DRYNESS MIXED WITH WHAT’S ANTICIPATED. PHOENIX NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE METEOROLOGIST JORDAN HEIL SAYS FOR US THIS MEANS LITTLE PRECIPITATION AND MORE WARMTH.
<JARED HEIL/METEOROLOGIST, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE>
“For Arizona, and much of the Southwest, it’s kind of a persistence story, and what I mean by that is, more of the same. We’ve had the dry. We’ve had the warm. And overall those trends are favored into the Spring months
MEANWHILE MONSOON SEASON AWAITS ARIZONA IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS OR SO. THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER SHOWS THAT, SOUTH CENTRAL ARIZONA WILL LIKELY SEE NEAR NORMAL OR EVEN ABOVE AVERAGE PRECIPITATION DURING JULY THROUGH SEPTEMBER.
MOST OF THE COUNTRY COULD SEE A HOT AND DRY SUMMER UNDER LA NINA CONDITIONS, AND IF THAT’S THE CASE IN ARIZONA, SAYS HEIL, THE MONSOON COULD ACTUALLY BE TRIGGERED EARLIER THAN NORMAL.
<JARED HEIL/METEOROLOGIST, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE>
“And that would be the hope right because if we could get some of that rain going, we could dent the drought a little bit. But of course you don’t want it to come too fast and furious like we had last summer causing catastrophic flooding conditions in some parts of Arizona.”
EVAN LIS, CRONKITE NEWS.