Phoenix tourist information

Phoenix is served by Sky Harbor International Airport (IATA: PHX, ICAO: KPHX), which is centrally located in the metro area near the intersections of I-10, I-17, US 60, and State Routes 51 and Loop 202. Sky Harbor is the fifth-busiest airport in the U.S. and the world for passenger traffic for takeoffs and landings, handling more than 36 million travelers in 2000. The airport serves more than 100 cities with non-stop flights. British Airways, Air Canada and Aeromexico are among several international carriers providing flights to destinations such as London, Toronto, Costa Rica and Mexico.

Airports
The Williams Gateway Airport (IATA: WGA, ICAO: KIWA) in neighboring Mesa also serves the area's commercial air traffic. It was converted from Williams Air Force Base, which closed in 1993, and is attempting to become a commercial airport to relieve traffic at Sky Harbor. The airport has occasionally received Boeing 737's from charter airlines to carry passengers to nearby destinations.

Smaller airports that primarily handle private and corporate jets include the Scottsdale Municipal Airport (SDL) in Scottsdale and the Falcon Field Airport (FFZ) in Mesa.

Public Transportation
Public transportation throughout the metropolitan area is provided by Valley Metro, which operates a system of buses and a rideshare program. Valley Metro is currently building Valley Metro Rail, a light rail project. Phoenix and several cities have expressed interest in commuter rail operating on existing railroad lines.

Amtrak no longer serves Phoenix Union Station; Phoenix is the largest city in the United States, and perhaps the developed world, with no intercity passenger rail service. The Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle stop three times a week at Maricopa, thirty miles south of downtown Phoenix. Amtrak Thruway buses connect Sky Harbor to Flagstaff for connection with the daily Southwest Chief service to Los Angeles and Chicago. Phoenix is served by Greyhound bus service, with the station at 24th Street located very near the airport.

Roads
The road system in Phoenix laid out in a traditional grid system, with most roads oriented either North-South or East-West. I-10 (the Maricopa and Papago Freeways) from Los Angeles travels from the west through downtown, and exits the metro area in a southeast direction towards Tucson. I-17 (the Black Canyon Freeway) begins in downtown Phoenix and travels north to Flagstaff. US 60 (the Superstition Freeway) also travels through the heart of the city, heading northwest through the suburbs of Glendale, Peoria, and Surprise. It also exits to the east of downtown, travelling through the suburbs of Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, and Apache Junction, and beyond. State Route Loop 101 (the Agua Fria, Price, and Pima Freeways) is also a major highway that forms a semicircle around the northern suburbs of the city, starting from I-10 in the west and travelling around to the Santan portion of Loop 202 in the southeast.

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Phoenix has been rapidly expanding its highway system. In 1985, voters passed a proposition establishing a 1/2 cent general sales tax to fund new urban freeways: Arizona 51, Loop 101, Arizona 143 (the Hohokam Expressway), 153 (the Sky Harbor Expressway), Loop 202 (the Red Mountain and Santan Freeways), and Loop 303 (the Estrella Freeway), and the final section of I-10. Most of these have been completed by 2005, with Loop 202 and Loop 303 being in the final stages of construction and development.

Bicycle transportation is also an option, and the Maricopa Association of Governments has a bicycle advisory committee working to improve conditions for bicycling on city streets as well as off-road paths.

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Weather  ^*

Phoenix's arid climate is characterized by some of the hottest seasonal temperatures anywhere. In fact, out of the world's large urban areas, only some cities around the Persian Gulf, such as Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Baghdad, Iraq have higher average summer temperatures. The temperature reaches or exceeds 100 °F (38 °C) on an average of 89 days during the year, including most days from early June through early September.

On June 26, 1990, the temperature reached an all-time high of 122 °F (50 °C). The dry Arizona air makes the hot temperatures more tolerable early in the season (105 degrees in Phoenix is same as 85 degrees else where in the country where there is more humidity). However, the influx of monsoonal moisture in August makes it a liitle bit humid. On the other hand, mild, sunny weather in the winter months makes the area a mecca for golfers and others seeking to escape the cold typical of the northern U.S and enjoy the out doors.

Temperature - Yearly Average

Phoenix sees some 300 sunny days per year and scant rainfall, the average annual total at Sky Harbor International Airport being 8.4 inches (210 mm). March is the wettest month of the year (1.07 inches or 27 mm). Rain is particularly scarce from April through June. Although thunderstorms occur on occasion during every month of the year, they are most common during the monsoon season from July to mid-September as humid air surges in from the Gulf of California. These can bring strong winds, large hail, or tornadoes. Winter storms moving inland from the Pacific Ocean occasionally produce significant rains but occur infrequently. Fog is observed from time to time during the winter months.

At the airport, the mean date of first frost is December 12 and the last is February 7; however, these dates do not represent the city as a whole because the frequency of freezes varies considerably among terrain types and elevations. Some areas of Phoenix may see frost for a month or more before and after the airport readings. The earliest frost on record occurred on November 3, 1946, and the latest occurred on April 4, 1945. Successive winters without any frosts at the airport have been recorded, and the longest period without a freeze stretched from November 23, 1979 to January 31, 1985. The all-time lowest temperature in Phoenix was recorded at 16 °F (-8.8 °C) on January 7, 1913.

Snow is extremely rare in the area, though still can occur from time to time. Snowfall was first officially recorded in 1896, and since then accumulations of 0.1 inches (0.25 cm) or greater have occurred only seven times. The heaviest snowstorm on record dates to January 20-21, 1937, when 1 to 4 inches fell (2 to 10 cm) in parts of the city and did not melt entirely for four days. Prior to that, 1 inch (2.5 cm) had fallen on January 20, 1933. On February 2, 1935, 0.5 inches (1 cm) fell. Most recently, 0.4 inches (1 cm) fell on December 21-22, 1990. Snow also fell on March 12, 1917 November 28, 1919, and December 11, 1985.