North American Monsoon

Did you know that our monsoon rains actually have a name? According to CLIMAS at the University of Arizona, this major Southwest climate feature is called the North American Monsoon (NAM) and gives us our precious summer rains.

This climate system is featured in a new report, Border Climate Summary, which I just received from CLIMAS. You can download it as a pdf. The Coconino Chronicles first looked at Climate Assessment for the Southwest in this post.

The Border Climate Summary gives an excellent overview of the NAM and some programs that are currently underway to track and predict these vital monsoon rains.