The Rain Is Coming, the Rain Is Coming
A Zoom Event with Our Regional Experts on What to Expect, or Not, from Monsoon 2025
The Tucson Climate Report family is growing with the return of Climate Tucson, a community group hosted on Meetup that features interviews with local climate researchers and others involved in efforts to protect ourselves and our community as we maneuver a planet in crisis.
A Look at Monsoon 2025
Thursday, June 26
6 p.m. Discussion and QA
To register, send an email to climatetucson@gmail.com, subject Monsoon.
Welcome the return of the Sonoran Desert’s monsoon season with Michael Crimmins and Zack Guido, climate and environmental scientists at the University of Arizona and the go-to experts on the fascinating three months of the year when the Sonoran Desert is wet (hopefully), beautiful, and full of life. Everything comes out, critters, plants and people, when the rains begin.
Our guests will cover the science of the North American Monsoon, a meteorological phenomenon involving wind direction, heat buildup, and dew point. Crimmins and Guido will fill us in on what the science is and how it’s played out across our region in the season officially known as Monsoon season.
Aside from the numerous studies the two scientists conduct, Crimmins and Guido have fun this time of year by challenging weather lovers to guess the amount of rain we’ll receive each month in their Southwest Monsoon Fantasy Forecasts. We’ll learn more about and how to play this part science, part "gut feeling" game on monsoon rain totals and more.
They also host the Southwest Climate Podcast, a conversation between the two scientists which last month featured a sneak preview of what may be in store as the rain approaches (maybe as soon as this week into next).
Check out the Monsoon Countdown May 20 episode — and see how it stacks up with where we are now in the forecast.
Background reading:
Climate Tucson’s 2024 salute to the monsoon with images by David Eisenberg.
Excellent overview of the North American Monsoon citing Crimmins and Guido.
Monsoon info from Climate Assessment for the Southwest, or CLIMAS, a program funded since 1998 by NOAA.
Meet the Speakers
Zack Guido
Director, Arizona Institute of Resilience (AIR) International Resilience Lab, University of Arizona
Assistant Research Professor, AIR
Dr. Guido’s research focuses on the use of technical weather and climate information in decision-making, resilience in global development challenges, climate services, and adaptation. His research has been published in journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Climate Change, Global Environmental Change, and World Development. Dr. Guido has conducted research across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, with funding from U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Meteorological Organization, the U.S. National Science Foundation, and U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
AIR’s International Resilience Lab collaboratively leads and facilitates socially engaged research and collaboration between the University of Arizona and local and global partners.
Michael Crimmins
Professor & Extension Specialist - Climate Science, Department of Environmental Science
Dr. Crimmins is on the faculty of the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Arizona and is a Climate Science Extension Specialist for Arizona Cooperative Extension. In this position he provides climate science support to resource managers across Arizona by assessing information needs, synthesizing and transferring relevant research results, and conducting applied research projects. His extension and research work supports resource management across multiple sectors including rangelands, forests/wildfire, and water resources as well as informing policy and decision makers. His work supports managers by increasing climate science literacy as well as developing strategies to adapt to a changing climate. He also serves as a drought monitoring expert on the Arizona Governor’s Drought Task Force and has worked with counties across Arizona to implement drought preparedness and impact monitoring plans.