Finally on the 70th day of the year the dry streak was broken. On Mar 11th we finally had measurable rain which marked the end of the record setting streak of 143 days the without measurable rain the streak from Oct 19, 2005 to Mar 10, 2006 , broke the old record by 42 days! In fact the 1.61 inches on Mar 11th was a daily rain record. It should be noted that Phoenix Sky Harbor had the same streak broken on this day with a daily rain record of 1.44 inches. The 143 day streak at both stations was significant in the fact that not even a trace of rain was measured during this time. It should be also noted this cold March 11th storm produced significant rain accross the valley and snow in the surrounding foothills. (pictured to the right)

After this only major storm of the winter season things began to dry out with the expection of a couple of minor storms in late March and Early April. The weather then began its regular warming and the 100 degree mark was first reached at 2:23pm on May 14th. This was followed by a rare May Thunderstrom event on
May 16 when 0.51 inches fell. This was the first significant May rainfall event at Pepperridge in the 10 year history of data at this station. The heat returned and the temperature reach 110°F on June 4th. This the earliest occurrence of this event. After another unusual round on thundershowers in early June, things dried out and the heat was on and dry weather prevailed until the start of the Monsoon season.

The Monsoon Season began on Jun 26th and ended on Sept 15th. The rainfall total was 8.25 inches the wetest Monsoon Season since 1999. The early monsoon season was fairly dry and hot with the temperature peaking for the year on July 21st at 3:35pm with a record tieing all time high of 114.7°F. This was followed by the hotest mean of the year on Jul 22nd of 100.8°F a all time warmest mean for this station. In fact if was not for a small isolated late evening thunder storm that quickly drop the temperature, we would have also set a record for all time record high minimum with a low of 92.3°F at 2:32am, but a surprise thunderstorm struck shortly after 11pm. The temperature plunged for 98.1°F at 11pm to 78.1°F at 11:25pm and 0.19 inches of rain fell in about 15 minutes!!!.

A storm on July 25th to July 26th produced severe weather in the east valley with a microburst in Scottsdale that caused major damage and down major power poles near 68th and Thomas Roads and 2 inches of rain in Gilbert Area. This storm only produced 0.52 inches at Pepper Ridge but set a daily lightning stroke total of 226,541 strokes and 73,164 cloud to ground strikes both all time records for lightning dectection at Pepperridge. It was a fairly interesting Monsoon fact that only 1.67 inches had fallen at Pepper Ridge through Aug 23rd, at the time this was the, (second driest season todate on record!). This was followed by a series of storms begining on Aug 24th with 1.35 inches.

A wet September followed with two big storms in the first week. This may have been a result of a moisture surge from Hurricane John, (which struck the tip of Baja Mexico). The rainfall amounts were 1.68 inches on 9/2 and 2.69 inches from a storm that began on 9/6 and lasted into the early morning hours of 9/7. This storm produced the year's largest daily rainfall total of the year with 2.03 inches on Sept 7th. Both September with 5.24 inches and the Monsoon ended up being the wetest on record! Another interesting fact about 2006 is the three big Monsoon storms and the Mar 11th storm accounted for 7.32 inches of the yearly rainfall and the monsoon accounted for 8.25 inches or 69% of yearly rainfall,leaving a total on 3.74 inches for the rest of the year. For the complete Monsoon Highlights Click Here.

After the Monsoon ended on Sept 15th, the weather dried out for the rest of September. October produced a few early season storms this was followed by a dry mild fall. Cold weather struck on Nov 30th with the first freeze on the season, the low of 29.4°F was the coldest of the year and tied for the all time earliest freeze of the fall/winter season. A cold storm on Dec 20th produced the second freeze of the season and the coldest daily mean of the year with a mean of 39.5°F. Finally towards the end of December the first major storm of the season produced a little rainfall with 0.16 inches on Dec 22nd which ended a 68 day dry streak dating back to Oct 14th. Dec 22nd was also the produced the lowest maxium of the year with a high of only 49.6°F. The year ended with a cold storm on Dec 27th to Dec 29th again this storm had limited moisture. Only 0.21 inches fell over three days and the year ended with 11.99 inches +1.59 inches above normal and the 4th wetest on record, again this was mainly due to the wild wet end of the Monsoon Season, without those thunderstorms the rest of the year was rather dry and would ended up below normal.

2006 Highlights: The highest temperature of the year 114.7°F on July 21st at 3:35pm, (tied all time record!), the lowest temperature of the year 29.4°F on November 30th at 3:55am. The lowest maximum was 49.6°F on December 22nd at 10:50am, and the highest minium was 88.3°F on July 20th at 7:05am. The highest daily average was 100.8°F on July 22nd, (a all time record!), the lowest mean was 39.5°F on Dec 20th. The high temperature exceded 90°F 152 days this while the low fell to 32°F or below on 4 days.

The mean temperature for the year was 71.4°F which was exactly the same average as in 2005. Total rainfall for 2006 was 11.99 inches 1.59 inches above normal. The greastest daily total was 2.09 inches on Sept 7th. The wetest month was September with 5.24 inches, which was the coolest and wetest September on record. The peak wind gust of the year occurred during the monsoon season with a peak gust of 44 mph on August 11th.

Here is a List of other High and Lows recorded in 2006:

Highest Wind Gust 44mph at 10:55pm on Aug 11th

Below is a summary of the weather year 2006

     There is also a text box area with more details of records and weather events of the entire year