>>2793653The low deserts (below 3,000 ft ASL) rarely cool off below 78F in July and August, the urban areas rarely cool off below 86F in the same period. States like NM, UT, and CO do not have such climates and biomes because the yare too high elevation. And likewise meanwhile the entire transition zone of AZ above 3,000 ft is capable of cooling off to below 70F and below 50F above 5,000 ft in the same period during monsoons (it is common for areas above 6,000 ft to fall below 32F in late June still).
Tilapia strains cannot survive in Arizona above 3,000 ft ASL because the winters kill them all, but canals and reservoirs below that allow them to thrive. It is not uncharacteristic for a standard wet monsoon to have the local humidity hovering at 50-90% for 2-3 summer months (July-Sep) above 3,000 ft in AZ. Winter and nighttime humidity is almost always above 50% on average above that elevation. The difference between the low deserts and the mountains and higher elevation areas is as day and night. The low deserts almost always have low humidity (below 50%) even in monsoons.
Low desert AZ attracts up to 5 million snow birds between Nov-April because the low deserts are in zones 9a-10a and rarely freeze, and at the same time the mountains of AZ are in zone 4b-7b and snowy during the same period. You can grow dragon fruit in the low desert of AZ. The low deserts are truly sub-tropical and have 2 wet seasons, they get greener and more diverse the closer you get to higher terrain (highest in central AZ and sky islands, lowest along the CO river and W and SW AZ).
And the extreme difference between the highest and lowest areas is also shown by species, the low desert is high diversity (with 2 wet seasons), while the highest elevations are Canadian and Hudson zone biomes (sub-alpine and alpine), while the highest ever diversity occurs in middle elevations and sheltered canyons with flowing water (thousands of examples in the AZ transition zone).
