Portal, Arizona

Portal is an unincorporated community in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. It lies 25 miles (40 km) south-southeast of San Simon and at the mouth of Cave Creek Canyon on the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains. Often called the Yosemite of Arizona, the rock walled canyon is composed of fused volcanic tuff.[2][3]

Portal, Arizona
Unincorporated community
Portal, Arizona
Portal, Arizona
Coordinates: 31°54′49″N 109°08′29″W
CountryUnited States
StateArizona
CountyCochise
Elevation
4,760 ft (1,450 m)
Time zoneUTC-8 (Pacific (PST))
Area code(s)520
GNIS feature ID9657[1]

The community is a popular location for birding in southeastern Arizona. It is also home to the American Museum of Natural History's Southwest Research Station.[4][5] The ranch of Sally and Walter R. Spofford was a popular birdwatching destination.[6] Other notable residents include the writer Nancy Farmer and her husband. [7] The Arizona Sky Village astronomy community is located in Portal, because the skies in the area are free of light pollution and therefore extremely dark.[8]

Portal Peak Store
Portal Peak in the Chiricahua Mountains

Climate

Typical of upland Arizona, Portal has a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) with warm to hot days followed generally by quite cool nights. Frequent frosts in winter give way to mild days, whilst most rain comes from summer thunderstorms.

Climate data for Portal, Arizona
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 77
(25)		 76
(24)		 85
(29)		 92
(33)		 99
(37)		 102
(39)		 102
(39)		 99
(37)		 101
(38)		 91
(33)		 86
(30)		 74
(23)		 102
(39)
Average high °F (°C) 55.0
(12.8)		 59.5
(15.3)		 65.1
(18.4)		 74.7
(23.7)		 81.8
(27.7)		 90.7
(32.6)		 89.8
(32.1)		 87.1
(30.6)		 85.0
(29.4)		 75.3
(24.1)		 64.4
(18.0)		 56.4
(13.6)		 73.7
(23.2)
Average low °F (°C) 27.4
(−2.6)		 29.3
(−1.5)		 33.3
(0.7)		 41.8
(5.4)		 45.8
(7.7)		 55.1
(12.8)		 60.4
(15.8)		 58.7
(14.8)		 54.5
(12.5)		 43.9
(6.6)		 33.3
(0.7)		 27.8
(−2.3)		 42.6
(5.9)
Record low °F (°C) −4
(−20)		 −1
(−18)		 12
(−11)		 18
(−8)		 26
(−3)		 33
(1)		 40
(4)		 42
(6)		 31
(−1)		 23
(−5)		 5
(−15)		 8
(−13)		 −4
(−20)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 1.06
(27)		 1.14
(29)		 0.88
(22)		 0.60
(15)		 0.33
(8.4)		 0.64
(16)		 3.37
(86)		 3.66
(93)		 2.05
(52)		 1.08
(27)		 1.15
(29)		 1.41
(36)		 17.37
(440.4)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 3.4
(8.6)		 1.4
(3.6)		 0.6
(1.5)		 0.3
(0.76)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0
(0)		 0.3
(0.76)		 1.1
(2.8)		 2.6
(6.6)		 9.7
(24.62)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 inch) 4 4 4 3 2 3 10 10 6 4 3 4 57
Source: [9]

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Portal, Arizona
  2. "USGS Geological Survey Bulletin 845".
  3. "Payson Roundup".
  4. Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory Archived 2010-11-27 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Southwest Research Station".
  6. Smith, Charles R. (2003). "In Memoriam: Sally Hoyt Spofford, 1914–2003" (PDF). The Kingbird. 53 (2): 123.
  7. "Blog". Nancy Farmer's official home page.
  8. "News article". Today.com.
  9. "PORTAL, ARIZONA (026706)". Western Regional Climate Center.
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