[AZ-Observing] NWS Article: Urban Heat Island Effect on Monsoon Storms
- From: "tpolakis@xxxxxxx" <tpolakis@xxxxxxx>
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:33:36 -0400
This is sort of on-topic for Arizona observers, who often claim that the
presence of Phoenix affects the number and intensity of summer storms=2E =
The
Phoenix National Weather Service office Web site has a good summary of the=
local and surrounding effects of the heat island on the monsoon=2E
http://www=2Ewrh=2Enoaa=2Egov/psr/general/monsoon/MonsoonPMA=2Ephp
And here is my summary version:
- The heat island was first described in 1921, when the metropolitan area
bustled with 80,000 residents=2E
- Everybody knows that the Phoenix nighttime lows have increased (by 7F to=
13F since 1961), but the same dataset shows the daytime highs decreasing b=
y
0F to 4F=2E They attribute it to the moderating effect of unnatural
vegetation=2E The "surrounding rural area" weather station that was used =
for
comparison to Phoenix is in the town of Maricopa, which has been doing its=
best to create its own heat island in the past few years=2E
- The contour maps of Valley rainfall do not support any of the anecdotal
claims of "hot spots" for monsoon storms=2E It simply increases with
elevation with a good correlation=2E
- And now the punch line: a plot of precipitation in Phoenix over 112 year=
s
shows no upward or downward trend in precipitation as the population has
increased=2E
Tom
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