Is September a good time to visit Scottsdale?

It's a good time to get a deal and a bad time to expect fall. Highs still run near 100°F most of the month, and Labor Day weekend is a pool holiday, not a hiking one. If you can aim for the last ten days, you'll catch the first genuinely pleasant evenings at summer rates.

Is it still hot in Scottsdale in September?

Yes. The monthly average high is about 100°F, and triple digits are common through mid-month. Nights cool faster than days — lows drop from the upper 70s toward the upper 60s by the end of the month — which is why evenings improve well before afternoons do.

When does monsoon season end in Scottsdale?

Officially September 30. In practice the storms thin out through the month, and late September usually brings the first clear, dry, lower-humidity stretch. Occasionally the remnants of a Pacific tropical storm push rain into Arizona in September, so it's not guaranteed dry.

Can you golf in Scottsdale in September?

Early in the month, yes, at dawn and at summer rates. Late in the month, many courses close for two to three weeks to overseed with winter rye, reopening in October with the green fairways Scottsdale is known for. Check the specific course's schedule before you book.

Scottsdale in September: The Trap Month, Still 100°, and the Last of the Deals

What the weather actually does

September is the month I get the most wrong-headed questions about. The calendar says fall; the thermometer says 100°F on a typical afternoon, and the first two weeks routinely throw 105s. The rock on the trails still holds August in it. Anyone who plans a 9 a.m. hike because “it’s September now” ends up in the same helicopter as the July people.

What does change is the night. Lows slide from the upper 70s at the start of the month into the 60s by the end, and that’s the real story. The humidity backs off as the monsoon winds down — it officially ends September 30, and most years the storms have thinned out well before that, though the remnants of a Pacific tropical system can still dump rain on the Valley in an off year. Daylight shrinks noticeably; the sun’s behind the horizon before 6:30 by late month.

Then, in the last week or so, there’s a morning where you step outside at 6 a.m. and it’s 68 and dry, and every local knows: it’s over. Not for the afternoons yet. But it’s over.

What’s on

Still nothing, which is why the rates are still low. Scottsdale ArtWalk runs every Thursday night regardless of month, and late-September ArtWalks are the first ones where you’ll want to be outside between galleries. The Old Town Farmers Market doesn’t reopen until October, the Arizona Fall League starts in early October, and the big fall festivals are all a month out.

Labor Day is the last summer pool weekend at the resorts, and the summer packages at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, The Phoenician, the Westin Kierland and the rest typically run through the end of the month. Football is back — ASU in Tempe, the Cardinals in Glendale — which matters for Saturday traffic and sports-bar seating.

What to do

Sunrise coffee, every day. This is the month for it. Grab a seat outside at Berdena’s in Old Town, Press Coffee, or Cartel at 6:30 a.m. and watch the light come up. It’s the one hour of September that feels like the postcard.

Hike by the summer rules, still. Start at 5 a.m., not 7. Pinnacle Peak and the Gateway Loop in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve are gorgeous after the monsoon greens the desert. The summer sunrise rules call September “the trap month” for a reason; follow the Gateway protocols until the lows break 70.

Squeeze the pool season. Resort pools and HOA pools are still warm and still uncrowded. Evenings at Cactus Park or an evening dip at the resort are the right use of a 95° dusk.

Ride the Greenbelt at dawn. The Indian Bend Wash is at its greenest after monsoon; the cut-throughs turn Eldorado to Chaparral into one unbroken ride.

Book October now. Rates climb the moment the season opens. If you’re planning the 48-hour itinerary for a fall trip, September is when to lock it in.

What to skip

Assuming it’s fall. Long pants at noon in mid-September is a rookie tell.
Golf in the last ten days without checking. Overseeding closures hit most courses around then; golf without a membership explains the calendar.
Afternoon Old Town walks. Save the Old Town on foot loop for after dark until the last week.
Patio brunch. The patios come back for dinner first; brunch is an October thing.
Paying October rates for September weather. The point of this month is that it’s cheap.

The local’s calendar

September is a working month. School is well underway, fall sports are on, and Friday nights belong to high-school stadiums and ASU games. The 101 is back to full weight, and the morning commute on Shea and Pima has that back-to-normal grind.

The overseeding ritual defines late September for anyone with a lawn or a tee time. Courses scalp the Bermuda, throw down winter rye, and drown it for two weeks — the fairways go brown, then a fluorescent green that looks like a rendering. Homeowners who overseed do the same once nights cool enough, which is why the whole town smells like wet grass and sprinkler heads for a stretch. The city pools mostly close after Labor Day, apart from a few that run into fall; the resorts keep theirs open year-round.

Snowbirds are not here yet. The first wave shows up in October, so September is the last month locals have the restaurants, the trails and the freeways to themselves. Resorts use it for final refreshes before the season, and the summer packages sunset at the end of the month — this is the last window to book a big room at a small price.

By the final week, the town is visibly waking up. Patio heaters get uncovered, the Scottsdale Civic Center lawn gets its first evening crowds, and the ArtWalk feels like an event again. August is the month behind it, hotter and stormier; October is the month everyone was actually waiting for.