Although Eugene has weakened into a post-tropical storm, there is still a risk of higher chances of rainfall in some parched areas of California and the Southwest this week.
Rain totals will be light, but scattered rain showers can be expected Tuesday through Thursday, with the greatest chances on Wednesday, the FOX Forecast Center said.
“All the moisture that’s associated with tropical storms, it doesn’t disappear when the storm disappears,” FOX Weather meteorologist Britta Merwin said. “All the moisture is still plentiful in the atmosphere, and this can end up being kind of a Cinderella story for the Southwest.”
Now, the leftover moisture from Eugene will be pushing into Southern California and Arizona – areas that need as much moisture as they can get at this point.
“This is going to allow for showers and thunderstorms,” Merwin said. “It’s going to feel a lot different, especially because it’s been such a hot and dry summer.”
The National Weather Service meteorologists are not anticipating any significant impacts from the cyclone.
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Cities from Nevada through Southern California and into Arizona and New Mexico are in desperate need of precipitation following a delayed start to the monsoon season – when the winds shift in from the south and more moisture is available from the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.
“Unfortunately, this year, it’s been kind of lame, to be quite honest,” Merwin said, “And so unfortunately, parts of Arizona, also New Mexico, Southern California, they’re not seeing as much thunderstorm activity as they usually do. That makes a hot summer even more difficult to get through because you’re not tapping into that moisture.”
According to the NWS office in Tempe, Arizona, Phoenix is in the midst of one of the most prolonged periods on record without rainfall, and there is no precipitation in sight. The city’s official observation site at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has reached 134 days without precipitation, and the NWS believes they are on track to reach the second-longest dry spell on record at 143 days.
Humidity will be in places like San Diego and even in the deserts of Southern California.
“Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, that’s kind of our token time frame where we’re going to have some higher humidity in place and more moisture in the atmosphere because of what’s left over of Eugene finally getting caught up in the jet stream and pushing up into the Southwest,” Merwin said.
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Dew points are a great measurement for how much moisture is in the atmosphere, Merwin adds.
On Tuesday morning in Las Vegas, the dew point was at 38. That is bone dry air.
“But look at the dew points for Wednesday and Thursday across places like Indo, California, you’re talking about the desert. We have a dew point of 69 degrees on Thursday morning,” Merwin said. “That is humid air in the deserts of Southern California.”
“We need the rain,” Merwin said. “We have the opportunity to capitalize on it. So fingers crossed we can get as much as we can get.”