Phoenix sees wettest fall on record with week to spare

There’s nearly a week left in November, but this autumn’s rainfall in Phoenix has broken records, according to National Weather Service data. This year, Phoenix officially experienced its wettest fall ever.

After this weekend’s rainfall, the official NWS rain gauge at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has measured 6.31 inches of rain this fall, which meteorologists define as September through November. The previous record was 6.18 inches, set all the way back in 1939.

“It’s pretty substantial,” said NWS meteorologist Tom Frieders. “Anytime you’re talking about records, it’s very unusual.”

How unusual? There have been only three fall seasons in which Phoenix rainfall has exceeded six inches. There have been only 11 falls in which rainfall topped four inches. Since the NWS began tracking Phoenix rainfall in 1896, there have been 45 entire years that didn’t get as much as six inches of rain.

This fall’s record rain was a result of three major storms each month of autumn. Heavy rain first fell toward the end of September. While that was technically within monsoon season, the storm wasn’t linked to a monsoon pattern, and the resulting rain was more similar to an “early fall-like system,” Frieders said. Phoenix got 2.26 inches of rain that month. 

In October, 3.26 inches of rainfall were remnants of tropical storms from the eastern Pacific Ocean that pulled moisture into Phoenix, bringing heavy rainfall locally. This October was the third-wettest October in Phoenix’s history. 

Now, recent storms in November have brought 0.79 inches of rain, which makes Phoenix’s fall the wettest in the city’s history, according to data from NWS. While the NWS uses totals captured at Sky Harbor to collect its data, other areas of the Valley — such as the northwest Valley — saw even higher amounts of rain. 

With six days left until the end of November — and, by extension, meteorological fall — there’s still time for that record to climb further. On late Saturday and into Sunday, Phoenix could have another storm system coming in. While the timing of the storm could change, Phoenix’s rainfall amount for this fall could “go up by a bit more,” Frieders said.

The 10 wettest falls in Phoenix history

1. 2025 – 6.31 inches 
2. 1939 – 6.18 inches 
3. 2018 – 6.13 inches
4. 1972 – 5.69 inches
5. 2014 – 5.24 inches
6. 1905 – 4.84 inches
7. 1984 – 4.38 inches 
8. 1993 – 4.12 inches
9. 1985 – 4.11 inches
10. 1923 – 4.03 inches