The Daily Agenda: Nobody lives at the airport

So why is the airport where we measure monsoon rainfall? ... Luckily, there are lots of other options ... Wadsack can't take the heat.

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As the monsoon season wanes and shows no signs of ramping up, we thought we’d revisit a question many Tucsonans ponder pretty much every summer.

No one lives at the Tucson International Airport, so why does the official rainfall meter call it home?

Caitlin and Curt first discussed this last month, when Tucson was approaching the latest-ever start to the monsoon season.

While it had already rained in Vail, that rainfall didn’t officially count towards the record because no rain was recorded at the airport.

A handful of Arizona Daily Star readers have also questioned the location over the years, writing letters to the editor to express their confusion and annoyance at what they consider to be an inaccurate reflection of rainfall in Tucson.

“When I read that Tucson got less than average rainfall during this summer’s monsoon, that seemed wrong. I got a lot!” midtown resident Jerry Peek wrote in October 2022. “Of course, rainfall amounts vary widely across our area. Still, as comedian George Carlin quipped about the weather, no one he knows lives at the airport.”

That same month, Marana resident Billy Langhorne took it upon himself to gather rainfall totals from across the region and provide readers with a bigger picture of what the monsoon season actually looked like in Southern Arizona.

He pointed out that while the airport recorded just 4.94” that year, down about 3/4” from the “normal” amount of 5.69”, Banner-University Medical Center South had seen 7.20” and “Mt. Lemmon received an astounding 32.13".”

Foothills resident Brent Harold called the airport measurement “misleading and frustrating” in his August 2022 letter, suggesting using an average of readings from several spots.

We had the same idea. So we reached out to our local National Weather Service experts to ask if alternatives had ever been considered.

The official answer is no, said senior forecaster John Glueck, who has worked with NWS’s Tucson office since 1995 and says he’s asked the same question every year.

But Glueck said there are other gauges located across Tucson and his monthly climate reports for NWS include information about rainfall amounts in the metro area.

He pointed to the University of Arizona’s Cooperative Extension’s Rainlog website; the Pima County Regional Flood Control District, which does provide average rainfall based on multiple locations; and the Community Cooperative Rain Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS), made up of thousands of volunteers nationwide that report every morning.

Star reader and Foothills resident Christian Hansen wrote about CoCoRaHS in a 2019 letter to the editor, saying that daily reports from outlying and less populated areas of Arizona are especially needed.

There are limited options on where else an official gauge could be, another reason why the idea hasn’t gained momentum, Glueck said.

“It has to be over a grassy area, it has to be non-obstructive, no buildings and no concrete,” Glueck said. “The airports work well because there are no buildings around, there’s plenty of airflow and it’s away from concrete.”

That eliminates many parts of town, especially given the rapid development across much of Tucson. Glueck questioned which spot would be more representative of true rainfall averages than TIA.

Rainfall differs so widely across Tucson that multiple sites would be needed to determine a true average, and with the Pima County Flood Control District doing just that, there’s no need for the NWS to replicate their efforts.

While none of this helps us when it comes to those records we keep breaking, it does mean that the information is out there. Now you know where to find it.

And for those of us who have trouble making sense of this underwhelming monsoon season, we’re not alone. Glueck said he’s also frustrated.

Forecasting for this season has been more of a struggle than the previous dry spell of 2020, he said, possibly because of the impacts of an El Niño developing in the Pacific Ocean that’s impacted weather in the Southwest.

“The monsoon is always frustrating to forecast,” Glueck said. “But this is my 29th one and it seems a little more frustrating.”

Take two: The Pima County jail’s Blue Ribbon Commission will be holding a virtual meeting today at 9:30 a.m. before delivering its recommendations next month to supervisors. The commission’s last meeting ended after four minutes due to protestors. Today’s meeting includes a 75-minute public comment period, but people who want to speak must register in advance by calling 520-724-8801 or emailing johanna.encinas2@pima.gov. Public comments can also be submitted online by clicking here. Find details about how to watch the meeting here.

Proving his point: State Sen. Justine Wadsack is doubling down on claims of harassment while she faces a potential recall. This time, she targeted Arizona Daily Star columnist Tim Steller. In response to Steller’s recent column about Wadsack reflexively calling any criticism “defamation,” she tweeted that he lied about her, saying the “defamation is staggering.” Of course, she didn’t say what he supposedly lied about.

As Steller put it in his column, dealing with criticism without lashing out is “part of the job, especially for a legislator trying to turn controversial ideas into law.”

There are few things we enjoy more than getting under the skin of powerful elected officials. Upgrade to a paid subscription so we can keep doing it!

100: The number of people we hope come out and see us at our “Agenda Live” event on Sunday. In addition to hearing about life as an Agenda reporter, attendees could become the lucky owner of an original portrait by legendary cartoonist David Fitzsimmons. We’ll also have Arizona Agenda and Tucson Agenda merchandise available! Get your tickets here.