The first day of Tucson's 2026 monsoon arrived early Monday morning with loud thunder, lightning strikes and scattered rain across the region.
Tucson's monsoon season runs from June 15 through Sept. 30.
A performer tries to drum up interest for a gunfight and stunt show during a recent night market at Old Tucson. Thunder, lightning and rain early Monday launched the start of this year's monsoon season.
As of 5:30 a.m. Monday, rainfall recorded at Tucson International Airport was already at 0.39 inches. The airport is where Tucson's official weather records are measured.
Monday's early morning rainfall already broke the previous June 15 daily record for Tucson of 0.17 inches in 2018, the weather service said. And there was a 30 percent chance of more rain Monday, especially late in the afternoon and evening, the weather service said.
During last year's monsoon, Tucson saw 2.82 inches of total rainfall, coming in at just under half of the normal Tucson monsoon rainfall for 1991 through 2020.
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Forecasters have predicted the this year's El Niño will be unusually strong, potentially supercharging droughts, heavy rainfall events and heat waves across the globe.
Previous El Niños have led to some of the hottest years on record, such as the record-breaking worldwide average temperature in 2024.
While it's hard to predict how a strong El Niño might impact the monsoon in Tucson, the most recent outlook said it's slightly more likely for above-average precipitation here.
However, El Niño conditions could bring about a wetter-than-normal winter here. forecasts show.
Tuesday in Tucson was expected to be sunny with a high of 104 degrees, the weather service said.
