When I arrived here on May 30th 2018, it was 105 degrees and it remained between that and 109 for the high temperature, nearly every day for the entirety of June and July. But with the arrival of the Monsoons in early July there is at least some cloud cover. Which makes the nights noticeably warmer but the late afternoons noticeably cooler. Plus with the increased cloud cover it’s much easier to protect your skin – and that’s kind of a huge deal over time.
Regardless of the heat the area Amazingly Beautiful. Tucson sits in a huge valley surrounded by Mountains. The Santa Catalinas to the North, the Rincons to the East, the Tucson Mountains to the West and the Santa Ritas to the far South. Three of these ranges – the Catalinas, Rincons, and Santa Ritas – all approach or exceed 9000 feet above sea level and they’re large enough to create their own micro-weather environments. Part of what that means is that in the higher elevations, at the tops of these mountains, you can are pine trees, ferns, aspen, and in the winter – snow.
The mountains mentioned above in addition to numerous other ranges in Southeastern Arizona, form a part of larger regional grouping called the Sky Islands, or the Madrean Archipelago. The Sky Islands form a unique bio-region which extends from Southeastern Arizona, east into New Mexico, and south into Mexico. The story of this bio-region is completely fascinating on geologic, environmental, and cultural levels and it’s the reason that you can find Coatis, Ocelots, Javelinas, and even Jaguars in Southeastern Arizona.
