In the June 2022 episode of the Southwest Climate Podcast, Mike Crimmins and Zack Guido apologize for the extended (and unintentional) break from podcasting, before diving into to a wide ranging "catch-up" episode that recaps winter and spring conditions, discusses regional hazards we see in spring into summer, and touches on the forecast and outlook for the summer...and the monsoon! They wrap with a discussion of the monsoon, whether this year could ever live up to last year and what led to last year's conditions, before addressing the excitement that a few outlooks have caused, and the early storms that have been building to the south. They also discuss the return of the Monsoon Fantasy Game and talk about how you can play and test your forecast skills against the "experts". Happy Monsoon!
For more information on the monsoon, be sure to check out the updated Monsoon Tracker from NWS Tucson: https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/twc/monsoon/monsoon_tracker.php.
Monsoon Fantasy Forecast Game
The monsoon fantasy forecast game is back! The game is largely the same. You make rainfall forecasts at five cities each month. You score points based on the accuracy and riskiness of your forecasts. Here’s what is new this year:
- You can make your forecasts for the month until midnight the final day of the previous month. For example, you have until June 30 at 11:59 PM to make your forecasts for July. Same goes for August and September.
- There are Amazon gift card prizes for the top 3 finishers at values of $400, $300, and $200, courtesy of the Arizona Institutes for Resilient Environments and Societies.
Mike, Zack, and Ben will be talking about the monsoon and the leaderboard each month on the Southwest Climate Podcast.
For more details or to play: https://monsoonfantasy.arizona.edu/home
Calling last year’s monsoon fantasy players - Can you spare 2 minutes to help?
If you played last year, the game team would be grateful for two minutes of your time to answer five simple questions. Responses are anonymous. They will help them publish a description of the game.
https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bd88HC6pAoWjGwS