Enjoying the Tucson summer {Monsoon}

[Desert_Captain]

Believe it or not the summers are our favorite time of year here. Yesterday brought another amazing Monsoon thunderstorm. The Monsoon brings spectacular storms that provide as much entertainment as color to the high Sonoran desert. This one rolled in at 2:00 and lasted until 4. Here is a shot of our front yard:



These storms make for some very interesting clouds formations:



While not as torrential as they can be (we have seen up to 4" in 20 minutes), we got 2" of rain in 2 hours. The rain was preceded by the usual plummeting of the temperature from 98 down to 72 in 15 minutes where it remained for the duration of the storm. Lots of lightning and thunder, often directly overhead but fortunately not much wind as we often see gusts approaching 50 or more. We only have a few more weeks before the Monsoon winds down and hope to enjoy many more storms before the season ends. :B

Here is a shot of our back yard, during really heavy rain the back yard fills up to 4" deep and logs start floating off of the wood pile, a couple of hours later it is bone dry:

[mileshuff]

Here in Phoenix we've had several rather strong monsoons this summer. The lightening shows are incredible. But these storms can be downright scary too. Apartments that have covered parking saw the covers torn off their supports and tossed into cars. Numerous power poles snapped like toothpicks. Worst was several areas that saw microburts that flattened homes instantly.

[Old-Biscuit]

Some folks aren't enjoying this monsoon season.....

"BUCKEYE, AZ - Winds from a rainstorm knocked over 10 trailers in the Phoenix suburb of Buckeye as two people suffered minor injuries."

"Monsoon storms kept firefighters very busy in south Phoenix Tuesday night. About 16 people had to be rescued from their vehicles after getting stuck in floodwater on Dobbins Road."

"The monsoon rolled through the South Mountain area, leaving behind a path of destruction. Judy Mercado breaks down in tears while cleaning up her home after last night's massive downpour."

"Monsoon storms flush snakes out of hiding"

This past week has been rough on some areas (Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa etc.)

Verde Valley...fantastic lightning shows, big rumbling thunder and some heavy rain. I enjoy sitting out on my porch and watching, hearing, smelling but feel for those that are getting WHACK!

[jesseannie]

We live in Show Low in a S/B house.
We love the monsoon season.
The mornings and evenings are often clear and sunny and the mid-day storms really cool thing down and everything starts to green up. The wildflowers are looking really good right now.
jesseannie

[Desert_Captain]

pnichols wrote:
Those monsoons may be neat for some while in their S&B houses ... but how about camping in it.

That, to me, would be fun. Have any of you intentionally RV camped in monsoon season and found yourselves snuggled up in your rig enjoying the show (safely, of course)?

We were in one once ... camped outside of Yellowstone by a lake. What a treat that was!

Once again we agree. :B

Whenever the Monsoon slows down here at the S&B we look to the White Mountains for fast moving thunderstorms. They are about a 3.5 hour ride and almost always a sure thing. We have enjoyed them for years from as far west as the Mogollon Rim, east through Show Low, Hawley Lake and on to Greer.

Seems like the best storms come with the higher elevations (7,000' to 9,000' +). Being warm, dry and snug in our rig I think we enjoy the storms even more. Nothing quite like having a front row seat when Mother Nature gets up on her hind legs.

:W

[littlemo]

Awesome pics! Thanks for sharing!

[pnichols]

Those monsoons may be neat for some while in their S&B houses ... but how about camping in it.

That, to me, would be fun. Have any of you intentionally RV camped in monsoon season and found yourselves snuggled up in your rig enjoying the show (safely, of course)?

We were in one once ... camped outside of Yellowstone by a lake. What a treat that was!

[jackdi]

We are staying in Oracle Az for the summer with our 2 horses.
We are on MT.Lemmon rd.We have not got hit as hard as Tuson, Oro Valley,OR Catalina. Last night we had a hard rain that was our first one.Our elevation is 5200 feet about 20 miles from MT.Lemmon
at least 10 degrees warmer than Tuson.


Jack and Dianne
320RS Columbus
3500 Dodge Ram Diesel
Fulltimers
Living our dream

[2gypsies1]

Catalina typically has a flooding problem with heavy rains. Wondering how it was for this one.

Glad AZ is getting some nice rain. We need it.

[Lauren]

Hey, Desert Captain, we bailed out on 8/1 but glad to hear there is rain there; hope some got to our place in Sahuarita.

We are currently in Sisters, OR and winding out to the Coast - back in Oct.

[Desert_Captain]

Ron3rd wrote:
Captain, how far are you from Catalina SP? We stayed their for New Year's and loved it. Loved the entire area actually.

We are just 8 miles north of Catalina SP just a couple of miles east of Oracle Road aka State 77. We sit at the western foot of Mount Lemon (9,300') at 3,400'. This keeps us a little cooler than downtown Tucson and boy do we ever get some wild weather coming down off the mountain. :B

[Ron3rd]

Captain, how far are you from Catalina SP? We stayed their for New Year's and loved it. Loved the entire area actually.

[Desert_Captain]

jrp wrote:
To each his own. I like my desert home in the winter, but I'm very happy to leave it vacant all summer, while I enjoy the cool rocky mountains of CO. Those summer monsoons may cool things off for a few hours, but they also raise the humidity to uncomfortable levels. When you're used to a dry 20% humidity level, suddenly pushing it up to 70% feels like a sauna; and the brief cooling ends quickly with a return to 100 degrees. Those living in the desert, always welcome a good rainfall, but one of the disadvantages of that heavy rain is a heavy growth of weeds following the rain. When I return each fall I'm faced with weeks of work to get rid of the new growth of evil "goat head" puncture vine weeds.

As a thunderstorm rolls in the humidity usually climbs about as fast as the temperature drops leaving very pleasant conditions, 70% only feels like a sauna when it is 100 degrees and those two just don't meet very often. Most non rain days are in the high 90's with 12 to 20% humidity, all in all very livable. Just get your outdoor tasks done early in the day (playing golf, hiking, biking etc.). If it does stay up in the triple digits for more than a few days we just jump in the Class C and head up top the white Mountains. A gorgeous 3.5 hour drive puts you at 7,000' to 9,000' + where it is nice and cool. :B

Weeds need never be an issue "if" you simply put down pre emergent (I have used Surflan with excellent results for years), and water it in. I do our yard and several of my snowbird neighbors every winter. Apply it somewhere in Jan - March (timing the application to coincide with a rain storm as you need to water it in at least half an inch) and you won't see a single weed of any kind right through the Monsoon and on into the following winter.

Works for me.

:C

[TechWriter]

This is my 1st AZ summer in Lake Havasu City so the monsoons are a new thing to me as I lived in WI up until a year ago.

They're fun as I miss the big Spring storms of the Midwest.

However, besides avoiding dry washes, the biggest difference I noticed was the smell of rain -- AZ rain smells dry. Maybe it's because of the dust, but very different smell than WI rain which smells "lush". Hard to explain.

[intheburbs]

Monsoon season came early this year at the Grand Canyon. My wife was very irritated that we were having to tolerate 55° and wind to see the sun set each night. Here's a good still from one of the videos we shot: