Panoramic illustrated banner of the Sky Islands Climate site: a saguaro-dotted desert foreground rising through hazy mid-elevation ranges to twin forested peaks, with the site title and tagline overlaid
NOAA Climate Prediction Center 6-10 Day Precipitation Outlook map, valid October 22-26, 2026, issued October 16. Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah are shaded dark green for likely above-normal precipitation, with probabilities of roughly 60 to 70 percent.

If rain were money, the precipitation outlook would bring riches to Arizona

In a strange twist of events, the main long-range computer models I track are aligning around a cut-off low pressure system. It should move across the state next week. While the Climate Prediction Center‘s outlook below makes it look like total inundation, the amounts are still a bit up in the air. Half an inch to an inch isn’t out of the question.

NOAA Climate Prediction Center 6-10 Day Precipitation Outlook map, valid October 22-26, 2026, issued October 16. Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah are shaded dark green for likely above-normal precipitation, with probabilities of roughly 60 to 70 percent.
Climate Prediction Center 6-10 Day Precipitation Outlook, valid October 22-26, 2026, via NOAA.