DIAMONDBACKS CITY

Phoenix is the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, a Major League Baseball team. Phoenix is the largest city, and metropolitan area of the state of Arizona. Phoenix is also the largest capital city in the United States. The following professional sports franchises are based in Phoenix; Arizona Cardinals, National Football League, Phoenix Suns, National Basketball Association, Phoenix Mercury, Women's National Basketball Association, Phoenix Coyotes, National Hockey League, Arizona Rattlers, Arena Football League, Arizona Thunder, indoor soccer and Arizona Sting, National Lacrosse League. The city of Phoenix is served by a city-council form of government. There are 8-person city council that represents 8 individual districts in the city of Phoenix. The economy of Phoenix has greatly opened up as the population has grown rapidly. Many of the area's residents are employed by the state government since Phoenix is the state capital of Arizona. There are many high tech and telecommunications companies that have located in the Valley of the Sun. Arizona State University has greatly enhanced the area's population through education and it growing research capabilities. some of the Major Corporations have their head offices in Phoenix; Intel, America West Airlines, Avnet, Inc, Motorola, Qwest, UPS, Southwest Airlines and Microchip Technology, Inc. The military has also a significant presence in Phoenix with Luke Air Force Base located in the western part of the area. Some of the famous people living in phoenix are; Alice Cooper, Charles Barkley, Michael Carbajal, John Dillinger, Cotton Fitzsimmons, Luis Gonzalez, Carl Hayden, Phil Mickelson, Arturo Moreno, Danny Bonaduce, Jose Miguel Cotto, Terri Fields, Alex Kump and Jerry Colangelo. A few Films have been shot in phoenix; Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, The Prophecy, The Gauntlet, Psycho, Raising Arizona, Bad Santa, Jerry Maguire and Waiting to Exhale. Phoenix has several Television and radio Stations. The city has two main traditional newspapers: The Arizona Republic serves the greater metropolitan area and East Valley Tribune tends to focus on East Valley issues. In addition, the city is also served by numerous free neighborhood papers and weeklies such as the Phoenix New Times, Arizona State University's State Press, and the College Times. The normal annual rainfall at Sky Harbor International Airport is 8.29 inches. March is the wettest month of the year, 1.07 inches. Rain is particularly scarce from April through June, inclusive. 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. 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. Blowing dust and sand also can restrict visibility; these phenomena occurs most frequently during the driest months of the year, from May to July. Severe thunderstorms bringing strong winds, large hail, or tornadoes, can occur during any month of the year, but only happen an average of once or twice per year somewhere in the metropolitan area.