finally we get some relief

I sort of miss the three months w/o rain,
we had cactus in the retirement community , and when they would forecast the monsoons ,

I would go out and look at the cactus, and its pretty amazing to see the before and after pictures.

from slender and somewhat pale to bulbous and a rich green color , after 3 inches of rain

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
finally we get some relief

Yes, relief for us from the heat. Then the bugs come out to attack us.

they're calling for about the same here in Vegas.

123 in Laughlin/bullhead city on Tuesday

YOU LIVE IN A DESERT!!! YOU LIVE IN A F'ING DESERT!! NOTHING GROWS THERE, NOTHING IS GONNA GROW THERE!!!






Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0q4o58pKwA

I feel like I can store my wool clothes for the season now that the temps are going to hit 115F.

My main gripe about the "monsoon" is first of all, the term was never used in Arizona years ago. It was just "the summer rains"
Another thing is the weather folks got together and decided to pull a arbitrary date out of their ass, I think they decided on June 15 as the start of the monsoon which of course is ridiculous. Mother Nature cares not a bit about dates on a calender.
Well, at least the old weather guys said the monsoon started when three days in a row the dew point was over 55 degrees or something.
In Tucson and SE Az. the average significant start date for the rains are usually around the 4th of July or a little later.

I first heard of 'monsoon' season last year - was told to be careful - and around here rightly so

but it hardly qualifies as 'monsoon' - in most cases, locally hard downpours for perhaps 30 minutes or so are just heavy showers

one of the local tv stations ran a 30-minute alert show on monsoon season on Thursday - taped it - some good advice but most of it seems like a bit over the top

we shall see

as of right now, not a cloud in the sky (except the smoke from the wild fires)

Usually around the 4th of July the monsoons kick in. It will be raining on the mountains and sunny in the valley. The water comes down hard, floods the washes and people get rescued from their cars. The lightning shows are impressive though.
Same story every year

In 1983 Tucson got hit with a 75 year flood, homes disappeared on both the north and south sides of town, it was crazy.

Back then there was a tv weather guy, Michael Goodrich, very dry humor, his joke when it would hit 100 was that the ice cracked on the Rillito River. He was also quite the shooter, saw him at the range quite a bit, he had a Browning BDA at the time-only one I ever saw outside of a shop.

I really enjoy the thunder and lightning that comes along as part of the storms. I agree that the arbitrary start and end dates of monsoon season is asinine.

Wet or dry monsoon?
Monsoon (UK: /mɒnˈsuːn/; US: /mɑːnˈsuːn/) is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea.

or:

a seasonal prevailing wind in the region of South and Southeast Asia, blowing from the southwest between May and September and bringing rain (the wet monsoon ), or from the northeast between October and April (the dry monsoon ).

quote:

Originally posted by doc45:
In 1983 Tucson got hit with a 75 year flood, homes disappeared on both the north and south sides of town, it was crazy.

Back then there was a tv weather guy, Michael Goodrich, very dry humor, his joke when it would hit 100 was that the ice cracked on the Rillito River. He was also quite the shooter, saw him at the range quite a bit, he had a Browning BDA at the time-only one I ever saw outside of a shop.

You're right, Michael Goodrich was great, really miss his common sense approach to weather.
A small correction, his deal was Ice Break on the Santa Cruz,lol.
I did not know he was a shooter, though I am not surprised. Too old too soon, sigh.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
I first heard of 'monsoon' season last year - was told to be careful - and around here rightly so

but it hardly qualifies as 'monsoon' - in most cases, locally hard downpours for perhaps 30 minutes or so are just heavy showers

I was puzzled by the term when I first moved to AZ, but then learned the true meaning of the word monsoon is a change in the prevailing wind pattern in an area. In most areas, that also brings along torrential rains, but it is the change in wind pattern that is responsible and that is the monsoon.
 
I also agree with DoubleAdobe about the NWS making our monsoon season start and stop on a date (June 15th -> Sept. 30th). It never happens that way and every year is different. Last year, I believe it was, we didn't get a dewpoint above 55 until middle-late July. The old standby way to tell is when the dewpoint sustains at 55 for 3 days in a row. That is also the point at which swamp coolers are no longer efficient and it is time to switch over to AC.
 

Hope it cools off for you soon!

Most of the exterior scenes in the High Chaparral TV show back in the late 60s/early 70s were filmed in the Old Tucson and the surrounding area. I knew it was hot when I watched as a kid, but I really didn't pay any attention to the actual sweat, dust, and grime on the actors until watching the show again as an adult. Due to filming needs and since it was so unpredictable, I don't remember any episodes where rain played a part.

I've been writing some High Chaparral fanfiction stories recently to try to improve my writing skills so I've spent a little time studying Tucson area weather patterns and have been watching the show critically for little details like the sweat and grime. The producers often filmed the show in 110 to 115 degree heat, and so the actors had to change their outfits several times each day because they would get too wet from the sweat. I don't know how they kept her cool, but Victoria (Linda Cristal) was the only person who normally wasn't allowed to be shown sweating on screen.

I knew a guy that got a lot of work on High Chaparral and various other movies and shows filmed at Old Tucson. His specialty was as a teamster, as in the old meaning of the word, stagecoaches, wagons, buckboards, etc. Also used a lot as an extra cowboy, anonymous scoundrel and as a wrangler and horse shoer for all the other productions going on. His name was Harry McCrorey.
Also, I am reminded of the old saying about the subject of a woman sweating.
It was said that women get flushed, men perspire and horses sweat,lol.

They were already using the term Monsoon Season when I first arrived in AZ in the early 90s. Seemed pretty appropriate then, like the bottom fell out for a few weeks at a time.

Probably about right, early 90's feels like the middle of last week to me, ha.

quote:

Originally posted by DoubleAdobe:
His specialty was as a teamster, as in the old meaning of the word, stagecoaches, wagons, buckboards, etc. Also used a lot as an extra cowboy, anonymous scoundrel and as a wrangler and horse shoer for all the other productions going on. His name was Harry McCrorey.

That's pretty cool. Your friend has his own IMDB page that covers some of his major works including Tombstone. Unfortunately, they don't usually list his position on a lot of TV credits so it's probably shortchanged him.

its pretty flippin amazing to see how four months
of smog and grease ,grime and dust on the pavement,

mix with 2 inches of rain, its like driving on ice. vehicles flying all over the place.