Arizona weather is a thing of myth and mystery. Those who have never been to Arizona think of the stereotypical "dry heat" and Westerns with cowboys riding in the desert, barely making it to a water hole, and they believe that reflects the sum total of Arizona weather reality. Arizona is hot, but perhaps not as hot as the exaggerations. The fact is that Arizona has three distinct climate areas and is often wetter than you would expect.
Northern Arizona includes Prescott, Flagstaff and the Upper Grand Canyon. Its weather is more closely related to Western Colorado and Eastern Utah than Arizona. The average elevation is 7,000 feet. The average summer temperatures can be as high as 82 degrees Fahrenheit, while the average winter temperatures can be as low as 16 degrees Fahrenheit.
Most of central and southern Arizona is composed of the Sonoran Desert, named for the Mexican state just south of the region. The average elevation in is 1,200 feet. The average summer temperatures can be as high as 103 degrees Fahrenheit, while the average winter temperatures can be as low as 41 degrees Fahrenheit.
The high desert generally refers to the region in southern Arizona with repeating bands of north-to-south mountain ranges. The average elevation is 4,500 feet. The average summer temperatures can be as high as 95 degrees Fahrenheit, while the average winter temperatures can be as low as 38 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Sonoran desert is considered one of the wettest deserts in North America, with two rainy seasons, one in the summer and another in the winter. Contrary to the North American norm, with weather derived from the Pacific Basin and/or Canada, much of the weather in the Sonoran Desert comes from Mexico and the Sea of Cortez. The average number of days in the year with monsoons is 56 days, averaging 3-15 inches of rainfall per year.
High winds in Arizona can reach gusts as high as 100 miles and hour. Although tornadoes are extremely rare, dust devils are common. Dust devils derive their power from ground-based winds. Tornadoes are reported, on average, about once a year.
