Intellicast is on a browser window at our home now, nearly nonstop, since the monsoon season began. We excitedly watch the cloudcover online and outside, willing the rain-heavy clouds to come our way. It has rained here both yesterday and today. That doesn’t seem all that much, probably, to most of you. But we had a really dry winter and no rain, so far, this summer; I think it had been more than four months since it had rained here.
Calling Phoenix’s monsoons “monsoons” might seem laughable to folks, say, in India. After all, we still only get a total of about 7.5″ per year of rain here. It is still a desert. However, we go from about 5-10% humidity to about 30-40%, and from cloudless, bright blue skies, to skies resplendent with puffy white clouds that lend themselves to brilliantly colored sunsets, and which dump three or four inches of rain over the course of 2-3 months.
The last few weeks have seen unrelenting heat… days on end with 110*+ heat. I can’t tell you how joyful it makes me feel to look at our current weather and see it in the 80s. Even a few sprinkles make me pleased, but the last couple of days, we’ve had actual rain, which really makes me giddy. And, it’s not your namby-pamby wimpy drippy Midwest downpour. No, these are storms with whipping winds, frequent lightning, and rolling, cracking thunder. Then, it clears for a bit, leaving sparkling scenery with rain-scrubbed air and the pungent smell of creosote and ozone on the remaining breeze. Ahh….
There’s also water running in the usually-dry creek and riverbeds, and nightly news reports of dorks who think their Hummers are more powerful than the roiling, muddy waters, and who have to get rescued while their Hummer gets transported downstream. Arizona even has a Stupid Motorist Law that says that if you are one of the ones who drive around the barricades, or try to drive through a flooded street and have to get plucked from the roof of your vehicle by helicopter (or however the help comes), then you have to not only pay a fine, but foot the cost of the rescue.
I hate the heat of the Phoenix area, but I really love the storms.
