Monday, July 14, 2008

Desert Monsoon



Yes, it does rain in Arizona. Between June 15th and September 30th (the official monsoon season in Arizona) storms may occur. These storms occur during the summer months throughout the southwest region of North America caused by a change in the wind flow to a southerly or southeasterly direction. That causes moisture to stream northward from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. Monsoon storms can range from minor dust storms to violent thunderstorms. They usually start with heavy winds that sometimes result in a visible wall of dust hundreds of feet high moving across the valley. Or, they can be like the one I photographed last night, a little bit of wind and some very welcome rain. Best of all, the temperature cooled down to a balmy 75 degrees!

5 comments:

Steve Buser said...

I saw on the news last night about all the rain out there. Amazing. Welcome to the City Daily Photo community. Looking forward to getting to know Phoenix more through you camera lens.

This week on http://NewOrleansDailyPhoto.blogspot.com I have a whole new batch of bird photos. Today momma Egret soars into through the tree ready to feed her brood.

Jane Hards Photography said...

I think of monssons ad being in Asia so this was really interesting to read. A big welcome by the way to cdp.

Lake Lady said...

Welcome to CDP! Your post caught my eye because I was wishing I could be in Phoenix this weekend....a dear friend is getting her PHD at U. of Phoenix on Saturday. I'll get as close as I can by dropping in on your blog! Enjoy the rain!

Jan said...

The weather was hideous in Phoenix. They really mean it when they say it's a dry heat. We escaped to Payson for the day. Now I remember the other weather reason I left NYC- the awful humidity in the Summer!

Randy said...

Hi Sharon and welcome to the Daily Photo community. This looks like the area west of Phoenix College. I used to live in Phx and just moved to SF one year ago. I started the first Phoenix daily photo. Its still out there if you want to take a look. www.fotografiaphoenix.blogspot.com
One thing I don't miss, the HEAT.