We had .86 of an inch yesterday, but none from this storm. It seemed to intensify upon hitting the mountains to the west, getting an orographic bump. Only to have the plug pulled out of it as it fell down into the valley. It did produce an offspring that gave a good rain near to the west, which then just rained out where it stood.
and then
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and more. Below is not a true funnel cloud, just an imitation.
and coming over
Some of the moisture from this storm was provided by an ex hurricane.
Thundershowers scooted around us today. Here is the proof.
First the clouds
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Today was the first day in about a week it did not rain here. I under a week this pool filed about halfway. We got it for the dog but she would rather just run through the mud and drink from puddles. Though in the desert we have many frogs and water beetles manged to get into this pool.
Todays clouds, with distant thundershower.
then the sunset
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contrast
Last evening the funnel cloud, the this AM heavy rain and flooding.
I have things to do this morning but I will put photo’s and link to video later.
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then
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a guest
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Two different funnels produced by the nearby supercell today.
As the wall cloud kept coming closer, we had to ready to hunker out in the middle hallway near the bathroom.
and the earlier one to the east of this one
and the wall cloud getting closer to us with unseen ?
and one more
We had .80 of an inch of rain yesterday. The wash in the front yard finally began to flow to make the cottonwoods happy, although some underground water was already moving to them from prior rains.
From excavations I have created small ponds that remain after the surface runoff is over.
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Here are yesterdays sky photo’s. At the Weather Channel they are calling our monsoon season the “summer thunderstorm season”. Last year we had 12 inches in two months here, the year before, 16 inches. Mostly the benefit of the La Nina effects. This year has stared out fine as well with 3 inches in the first 11 days of July.
We have not been told our monsoon season has retired for the summer thunderstorm one. They appear to be letting us down easily by calling the monsoon season a fixed time from June 15 to September 30. Next year perhaps they will drop the monsoon title. I can only figure out two likely reasons to not call a monsoon season such; it does not actually compare to southeast Asia or India ones, or the business interest feel the title scares potential newcomers from coming to a place with a; Oh my God! A monsoon! The monsoons are coming! Run for your lives! You’re crazy to move there! But summer thunderstorms? How cozy.
I really liked the cirrus like clouds above the main cumulus ones
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Rain complex rotating into southeast Arizona.
If you check out Nexrad radar on the Weather Underground now, you will see this complex looking like it might roll up to Tucson. Tomorrow is said to be the potential big rain day, as a low pressure moves in from Sonora Mexico and stalls a bit over Arizona into the weekend.
With yesterdays nearly an inch here, it’s still the more the merrier.
Well yesterday the storms came in instead of just starting overhead and then moving out to become major rain makers, except the result was the same. There came in big from the southeast, split in two, moved around and then rained down in the valley again.
I have come to believe that there is an exponential deception we often observe in thinking it is raining everywhere but right were one is. It is quite common to hear someone say “Then it just split and moved around us. So our party went great!” Though indeed this does at times actually happen. It is somewhat hard to judge where the actual storm is. When over you it often seems everywhere if it is large enough, but off on the side, it might look just next-door but be unknown miles away. Now here comes a “that being said”.
I have had many occasions of traveling and seeing the rain in the valleys, or rain until I get to the hills where I live, which brings me to a suspicion; that the hills here may be in part the result of being where mostly orographic caused storms change their identities after leaving the high mountain ranges that cup us from the south. I so often notice the very same result in storm lifetimes and propagation, that I am beginning to think that in these unusual circumstances these local hills may be the artifact of storm development regularities over many thousands or millions of years. ?
here are yesterdays storms closing in which seemed to “bounce” as they arrived, then went around us.
and
Well, these were a bit before they closed in much more. It rained hard for about 10 seconds again, before the new storms forming seemed to take the energy away from the older one coming at us here.
There were some nice sun and cloud scenes
Yesterday had a familiar occurrence. A storm formed overhead, then drifted west. I had heavy rain for about 10 seconds. Then the storm expanded rapidly as it left, causing heavy rain just a mile to the west. It went on to become a large thunderstorm crossing over to another county and then country.
and then
then as the day ends, some declining storms approaching from the east fizzle out over our already worked over cool air. While it was 100 something in Phoenix, it was 72 degrees here.
I still await a truly sever thunderstorm to film for you.
We had a dramatic sky this evening. Had .33 hundredths of an inch of rain today. With one evening super-bolt of lightning about 3 miles away.
and this one which I enhanced had two different colors going on
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and back to the beginning
My Desert Southwest Sky Weblog 