Editing Carefree, Arizona (section)

==Geography and climate==
Carefree is in northeastern Maricopa County, bordered by the city of [[Scottsdale, Arizona|Scottsdale]] to the south and east and by the town of [[Cave Creek, Arizona|Cave Creek]] to the west. Carefree and Cave Creek are sometimes thought of as a single community.<ref>[http://carefreecavecreek.org/ Carefree-Cave Creek Chamber of Commerce]</ref> The two towns share the local landmark [[Black Mountain (Maricopa County, Arizona)|Black Mountain]], which rises more than {{convert|1000|ft}} above them, to an elevation of {{convert|3398|ft}}.

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|8.8|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|0.004|sqmi|3}}, or 0.05%, are listed as water.<ref name="CenPopGazetteer2021" />

Carefree has a [[semi-arid climate#Hot semi-arid climate|hot semi-arid climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''BSh'') with hot summers and mild winters, avoiding a designation of arid by being located closer to the rain-catching central mountains of Arizona, so that it receives about 70 percent (around {{convert|5.3|in|mm|0|disp=or}}) more rainfall annually than does Phoenix. There are 141 afternoons annually with highs of at least {{convert|90|°F|1|disp=or}}, 63.4 afternoons of at least {{convert|100|°F|1|disp=or}}, and three afternoons that exceed {{convert|110|F|C|1|disp=or}}. During the winter, 8.3 mornings will fall below freezing; the coldest temperature reported in Carefree is {{convert|15|F|C|1|disp=or}}, which occurred on January 13, 1963, and January 7, 1971. Snowfall, although infrequent, can occur. The last measurable snow was February 22, 2019, accumulating 3–6" depending upon the elevation.
Rainfall is sometimes heavy during winter fronts or monsoonal storms; the wettest month on record is January 1993 with {{convert|9.37|in|mm|1}}, which helped produce a record “rain year” total of {{convert|26.20|in|mm|1}} between July 1992 and June 1993; in contrast between July 1962 and June 1963, only {{convert|6.98|in|mm|1}} was recorded.
{{Weather box
|location = Carefree, Arizona, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1961&ndash;present
|single line = Y
|Jan record high F = 84
|Feb record high F = 86
|Mar record high F = 97
|Apr record high F = 102
|May record high F = 109
|Jun record high F = 118
|Jul record high F = 118
|Aug record high F = 113
|Sep record high F = 111
|Oct record high F = 104
|Nov record high F = 92
|Dec record high F = 82
|year record high F = 118

|Jan avg record high F = 74.5
|Feb avg record high F = 78.0
|Mar avg record high F = 85.6
|Apr avg record high F = 94.0
|May avg record high F = 101.5
|Jun avg record high F = 108.5
|Jul avg record high F = 110.6
|Aug avg record high F = 109.4
|Sep avg record high F = 105.1
|Oct avg record high F = 96.5
|Nov avg record high F = 85.0
|Dec avg record high F = 74.7
|year avg record high F = 111.8

|Jan high F = 64.6
|Feb high F = 67.5
|Mar high F = 74.1
|Apr high F = 81.6
|May high F = 91.0
|Jun high F = 100.6
|Jul high F = 103.4
|Aug high F = 102.3
|Sep high F = 97.0
|Oct high F = 85.5
|Nov high F = 73.5
|Dec high F = 63.6
|year high F = 83.7
|Jan mean F = 53.1
|Feb mean F = 55.6
|Mar mean F = 61.0
|Apr mean F = 67.2
|May mean F = 76.1
|Jun mean F = 85.4
|Jul mean F = 89.7
|Aug mean F = 89.1
|Sep mean F = 83.7
|Oct mean F = 72.8
|Nov mean F = 61.5
|Dec mean F = 52.5
|year mean F = 70.6
|Jan low F = 41.6
|Feb low F = 43.8
|Mar low F = 47.9
|Apr low F = 52.8
|May low F = 61.2
|Jun low F = 70.1
|Jul low F = 75.9
|Aug low F = 75.9
|Sep low F = 70.4
|Oct low F = 60.1
|Nov low F = 49.4
|Dec low F = 41.3
|year low F = 57.5

|Jan avg record low F = 30.5
|Feb avg record low F = 33.2
|Mar avg record low F = 36.2
|Apr avg record low F = 41.9
|May avg record low F = 49.9
|Jun avg record low F = 60.7
|Jul avg record low F = 68.4
|Aug avg record low F = 67.4
|Sep avg record low F = 61.8
|Oct avg record low F = 47.4
|Nov avg record low F = 35.7
|Dec avg record low F = 29.8
|year avg record low F = 27.6

|Jan record low F = 15
|Feb record low F = 19
|Mar record low F = 24
|Apr record low F = 32
|May record low F = 37
|Jun record low F = 49
|Jul record low F = 56
|Aug record low F = 59
|Sep record low F = 44
|Oct record low F = 32
|Nov record low F = 28
|Dec record low F = 20
|year record low F = 15
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation inch = 1.80
|Feb precipitation inch = 1.60
|Mar precipitation inch = 1.64
|Apr precipitation inch = 0.50
|May precipitation inch = 0.15
|Jun precipitation inch = 0.12
|Jul precipitation inch = 1.27
|Aug precipitation inch = 1.30
|Sep precipitation inch = 1.15
|Oct precipitation inch = 0.97
|Nov precipitation inch = 0.77
|Dec precipitation inch = 1.31
|year precipitation inch = 12.58
|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
|Jan precipitation days = 4.5
|Feb precipitation days = 4.7
|Mar precipitation days = 3.8
|Apr precipitation days = 1.9
|May precipitation days = 1.5
|Jun precipitation days = 0.6
|Jul precipitation days = 3.8
|Aug precipitation days = 4.9
|Sep precipitation days = 3.3
|Oct precipitation days = 2.7
|Nov precipitation days = 2.7
|Dec precipitation days = 3.9
|year precipitation days= 38.3
|source 1 = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=NOWData - NOAA Online Weather Data |url=https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=psr |access-date=November 19, 2022 |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Summary of Monthly Normals 1991&ndash;2020 |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00021282&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL |access-date=November 19, 2022 |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration}}</ref>
}}