Winter Wonderland!

[Zshot]

'Perfect' weather ... and getting better

LARRY COPENHAVER

lcopenha@tucsoncitizen.com

Snow rides the wind across the frozen land and ice clings to everything from highways to fingertips.

Trees stand barren and visible parts of the lawn remain brown, a slight contrast to the gray skies.

But not in Tucson.

"This is a wonderful time here," said Barbara MacDonald, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau.

For many Tucsonans, this is their favorite time of the year, she said. Pity those poor souls in the cold.

"I have a friend in Washington, D.C., who is freaking out because of the weather," MacDonald said. "She may have to spend the night in D.C. because she's worried that if she goes home (outside the city), she may not be able to get back to work the next day."

"Right now, the weather is perfect," said Patty Teyechea, 25, who spent much of yesterday afternoon with her 16-month-old daughter, Leilani, having fun in Reid Park, at 22nd Street and Country Club Road. "We walk around and she plays with the ducks or in the sand.

"But when summer comes, we stay home with the cooler on."

For the metro area, prime visitor season is Jan. 15 to April 15, said Rick Vaughan, the visitors bureau's vice president of sales and marketing.

To take advantage of Tucson's fair weather compared to much of the country, the bureau is running advertising across much of the country in the grips of winter, especially in New York City, Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The number of tourists visiting the Tucson area is expected to be the best ever, MacDonald added, especially for last month and this month.

It's hard to stay inside when the weather is so beautiful, said Sarah Joy, 40, who yesterday shared lunch at a picnic table at Reid Park with her friend Louise Spizizen, 77.

"It feels so good to be in the fresh air, and in the sunshine," Joy said. "On nice days, we like to walk in the park."

Added Spizizen, "And it's a nice day."

That's just the way it is in Tucson this time of year, said Valerie Meyers, a National Weather Service meteorologist here.

Through February, Tucson's official high temperatures, as measured at Tucson International Airport, ran about 3.5 degrees cooler than the month's normal average of 68.4. The overnight low came in at 46.7 degrees, 5.1 degrees above the average of 41.6.

Average temperatures are established by the Weather Service with climatic data from the past 30 years, she said.

February's warmest day was 73 on the 18th.

It hit 70 or higher on three other dates in February.

The coolest nights were 40 degrees on Feb. 2 and Feb. 5. The warmest nights were 55 on Feb. 10 and Feb. 11.

Barring the unlikely arrival of a major low pressure system passing through southern Arizona, Meyers does not expect ice or snow in Tucson until next winter.

"I don't think we will approach freezing again this season," she said.

Rainfall was above average in February with 1.27 inches. Average is 0.88 of an inch, she said. Since Jan. 1, 2.62 inches have fallen at the airport, three-quarters of an inch above normal.

Favorable temperatures and rains are expected to produce a bumper crop of wildflowers, perhaps the best ever, local wildflower watchers have said.

Tucson's weather operates as a magnet to tourists, Vaughn said, and noted that hotel occupancy rates here are running at 67.5 percent, up 8 percent from last year.

Yesterday was a special day to be in Reid Park for Willie Jacobs, 41, and Gloria Jacobs, 33,

The visit was a last-second idea "because it's such a nice day, and the kids are in school," he said. "But we forgot the blanket and we forgot the picnic basket."

"We've been on the run, and now we are finally having a relaxing day," Gloria Jacobs said as the couple relaxed on a knoll. "And I didn't want to stay home and clean house."

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I love Arizona in the Winter! :D-->

[oldiesman]

Some family members visited last year, and they loved it.

Never been there, but it's a worthy destination some day. :)-->

[vickles]

:P-->