The desert monsoon season

[electra225]

Last night, we got a half inch of dust, followed by two dozen drops of rain. Now we have mud on all the concrete. So, today, I get out the pressure washer and water the sidewalks and driveway. It is cloudy here now, getting ready to rain. They told just a few minutes ago on the radio that the humidity was 45%. That is pretty soupy for this part of the country. I figure it will rain for certain before noon. The monsoon season will last until August some time, depending on when the "thermal low" leaves this part of the world. High pressure in Texas, along with low pressure off the coast of Baja lets all the monsoon moisture from the Gulf of Mexico flow up here. Heating of the day spawns spontaneous thunderstorms and rainfall. We haven't gotten a lot of lightning yet this year here. More to the east, around the San Carlos reservation, they had more lightning. Last week, we got rain while Phoenix got a couple drops. Yesterday, Phoenix got rain while we got a couple drops. All the TV stations have correspondents stationed at water puddles, showing cars running thru the water. A tenth of an inch of rain in Missouri wouldn't get mentioned. A tenth of an inch here is a big deal.

[19&41]

Always the wind to blow up the dust to make the relieving rain into a mess. In Utah it would dry out between rains to generate more dust.