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Storm Sequence [Arizona, monsoons]
Jul. 23rd, 2021 10:57 am(post title is a periodic reminder about one of my all-time favorite pieces of installation art, which I hope more people will get to see in person some day)
When in Arizona, this is a blog that talks incessantly about the weather.
On Thursday, the Tucson branch of the National Weather Service twittered some commentary about a large impending monsoon storm:
(side note: They weren't able to get this thread to thread properly so if you actually want to read it you'll need to dig)
Things started to get interesting here last night at around 9 pm, with very strong winds. The torrential rain then got strong enough to cause water to build up in both the front and back yards of this place. I started having flashbacks to the times that the Villa Maria house flooded, but thankfully, this place was built juuuuust high enough that no water made it inside from the flooding. The water level reached around 2 inches in the back, and maybe an inch out front. Some water DID make it inside through the bathroom ceiling vent, which I think mostly just tells us how windy it was. It was interesting watching shingles flap up and down on a neighbor's shed.
The power even went out briefly, making me glad once again that I impulse-purchased this silly, cheap LED lantern in California:
After 30 minutes the power was back on again, so I went to sleep to wait and see what things looked like in the morning, when I'd been planning on a bike ride and coffee with friends.
...as of right now, it's still raining, complete with lightning, and I suspect the storm activity is going to continue into tomorrow. So the bike ride definitely didn't happen, and I doubt I'll get to go rowing tomorrow morning, either.
Instead, Emma and I have been enjoying the storm from inside the house. I am SO GLAD I finished labwork yesterday!
During a small lull:
We're almost up to 3 inches already in the part of town where I'm staying. Interestingly, the Tucson NWS just posted a write-up about an epic July 2006 monsoon storm, that dumped up to 8-11 inches of water in various areas. I can only imagine what that must have been like, if this is what 3 inches looks like.
This has been quite the summer for climate-change-related weather events, generally. I have to assume you've seen photos of the flooding in parts of China. I was chatting with a colleague yesterday who noted that over the last 3 years, Arizona has seen some really terrible wildfires that have wiped out a lot of old-growth forest (keeping in mind that it takes around 100 years before a saguaro starts to reproduce). I'd heard about some of the fires, but still didn't have an appreciation of the full extent of the carnage in the Superstitions. I'm nervous about the smoke levels I may encounter while driving to California, but it can't be helped. This is our new normal. I almost feel like it's a good thing that some of the smoke from the fires has traveled all the way out to the East Coast so more people can really understand what these fires mean. Human beings are generally terrible about extrapolating beyond individual lived experience.
Not that I'm optimistic that this year's weather events will actually get people to change profligate lifestyles or anything.
When in Arizona, this is a blog that talks incessantly about the weather.
On Thursday, the Tucson branch of the National Weather Service twittered some commentary about a large impending monsoon storm:
THREAD: We're heading into one of the more active monsoon patterns we've seen in many years over the upcoming few days. Follow along as we take a deeper dive into the meteorology behind this event and our expectations. #azwx 1/
— NWS Tucson (@NWSTucson) July 22, 2021
(side note: They weren't able to get this thread to thread properly so if you actually want to read it you'll need to dig)
Things started to get interesting here last night at around 9 pm, with very strong winds. The torrential rain then got strong enough to cause water to build up in both the front and back yards of this place. I started having flashbacks to the times that the Villa Maria house flooded, but thankfully, this place was built juuuuust high enough that no water made it inside from the flooding. The water level reached around 2 inches in the back, and maybe an inch out front. Some water DID make it inside through the bathroom ceiling vent, which I think mostly just tells us how windy it was. It was interesting watching shingles flap up and down on a neighbor's shed.
The power even went out briefly, making me glad once again that I impulse-purchased this silly, cheap LED lantern in California:
After 30 minutes the power was back on again, so I went to sleep to wait and see what things looked like in the morning, when I'd been planning on a bike ride and coffee with friends.
...as of right now, it's still raining, complete with lightning, and I suspect the storm activity is going to continue into tomorrow. So the bike ride definitely didn't happen, and I doubt I'll get to go rowing tomorrow morning, either.
Instead, Emma and I have been enjoying the storm from inside the house. I am SO GLAD I finished labwork yesterday!
During a small lull:
We're almost up to 3 inches already in the part of town where I'm staying. Interestingly, the Tucson NWS just posted a write-up about an epic July 2006 monsoon storm, that dumped up to 8-11 inches of water in various areas. I can only imagine what that must have been like, if this is what 3 inches looks like.
This has been quite the summer for climate-change-related weather events, generally. I have to assume you've seen photos of the flooding in parts of China. I was chatting with a colleague yesterday who noted that over the last 3 years, Arizona has seen some really terrible wildfires that have wiped out a lot of old-growth forest (keeping in mind that it takes around 100 years before a saguaro starts to reproduce). I'd heard about some of the fires, but still didn't have an appreciation of the full extent of the carnage in the Superstitions. I'm nervous about the smoke levels I may encounter while driving to California, but it can't be helped. This is our new normal. I almost feel like it's a good thing that some of the smoke from the fires has traveled all the way out to the East Coast so more people can really understand what these fires mean. Human beings are generally terrible about extrapolating beyond individual lived experience.
Not that I'm optimistic that this year's weather events will actually get people to change profligate lifestyles or anything.
