The Show on KJZZ

Listen live weekdays at 9 a.m.

What Arizona researchers are learning from a monsoon fantasy game

By Steve Goldstein
Published: Tuesday, July 5, 2022 - 1:02pm
Updated: Tuesday, July 5, 2022 - 1:29pm

Audio icon Download mp3 (10.22 MB)

a cloud with lightning over phoenix
Getty Images
The monsoon in Arizona lasts from June 15 through Sept. 30.

The monsoon in Arizona is one of the staples of our otherwise sizzling, dry and long summers. But even as forecasters talk about El Niño and La Niña  and try to gauge how wet we’re going to get, the monsoon is extremely unpredictable.

In fact, it’s so unpredictable that climate experts at the University of Arizona created the Southwest Monsoon Fantasy Forecasts, which gives amateurs the chance to weigh in on precipitation predictions for fun and competition.

To learn more, The Show talked  with Zack Guido of the Arizona Institutes for Resilient Environments and Societies. He’s also the principal investigator for the fantasy forecast.

This is the second season for the fantasy forecast, so The Show asked Guido what made it worthwhile to bring back.

More stories from KJZZ

Science The Show Arts + Entertainment