diff --git a/external/fv3gfs-util/fv3gfs/util/_timing.py b/external/fv3gfs-util/fv3gfs/util/_timing.py
index ea03c20be..77035ab8c 100644
--- a/external/fv3gfs-util/fv3gfs/util/_timing.py
+++ b/external/fv3gfs-util/fv3gfs/util/_timing.py
@@ -5,12 +5,15 @@
 
 
 class Timer:
+    """Class to accumulate timings for named operations."""
+
     def __init__(self):
         self._clock_starts = {}
         self._accumulated_time = {}
         self._enabled = True
 
     def start(self, name):
+        """Start timing a given named operation."""
         if self._enabled:
             if name in self._clock_starts:
                 raise ValueError(f"clock already started for '{name}'")
@@ -18,6 +21,9 @@ def start(self, name):
                 self._clock_starts[name] = time()
 
     def stop(self, name):
+        """Stop timing a given named operation, and add the time elapsed to
+        accumulated timing.
+        """
         if self._enabled:
             if name not in self._accumulated_time:
                 self._accumulated_time[name] = time() - self._clock_starts.pop(name)
@@ -26,12 +32,31 @@ def stop(self, name):
 
     @contextlib.contextmanager
     def clock(self, name):
+        """Context manager to produce timings of operations.
+
+        Args:
+            name: the name of the operation being timed
+
+        Example:
+            The context manager times operations that happen within its context. The
+            following would time a time.sleep operation::
+
+                >>> import time
+                >>> from fv3gfs.util import Timer
+                >>> timer = Timer()
+                >>> with timer.clock("sleep"):
+                ...     time.sleep(1)
+                ...
+                >>> timer.times
+                {'sleep': 1.0032463260000029}
+        """
         self.start(name)
         yield
         self.stop(name)
 
     @property
     def times(self) -> Mapping[str, float]:
+        """accumulated timings for each operation name"""
         if len(self._clock_starts) > 0:
             warnings.warn(
                 "Retrieved times while clocks are still going, "
@@ -42,12 +67,15 @@ def times(self) -> Mapping[str, float]:
         return self._accumulated_time.copy()
 
     def reset(self):
+        """Remove all accumulated timings."""
         self._accumulated_time.clear()
 
     def enable(self):
+        """Enable the Timer."""
         self._enabled = True
 
     def disable(self):
+        """Disable the Timer."""
         if len(self._clock_starts) > 0:
             raise RuntimeError(
                 "Cannot disable timer while clocks are still going: "
@@ -56,7 +84,8 @@ def disable(self):
         self._enabled = False
 
     @property
-    def enabled(self):
+    def enabled(self) -> bool:
+        """Indicates whether the timer is currently enabled."""
         return self._enabled
 
 
diff --git a/external/fv3gfs-util/fv3gfs/util/communicator.py b/external/fv3gfs-util/fv3gfs/util/communicator.py
index 0859b405b..ac2afb023 100644
--- a/external/fv3gfs-util/fv3gfs/util/communicator.py
+++ b/external/fv3gfs-util/fv3gfs/util/communicator.py
@@ -277,6 +277,9 @@ def scatter_client():
 class CubedSphereCommunicator(Communicator):
     """Performs communications within a cubed sphere"""
 
+    timer: Timer
+    partitioner: CubedSpherePartitioner
+
     def __init__(self, comm, partitioner: CubedSpherePartitioner):
         """Initialize a CubedSphereCommunicator.