6 h Catalina area totals going over 2 inches….in June, our driest month!

NWS-style 8-incher gauge here in Sutherland Heights collected no less than 2.04 inches!  All of this fell after about 11:30 PM last night.  Good grief.

Flying ants are out in big columnar swarms, btw, confirmation of a major rain event here in the Sonoran Desert.

CDO wash had a major run, but was dry at Golder Ranch  Dr. and Lago del Oro Parkway at 6 AM.  The Sutherland Wash also had a major run, but is down to a relative trickle now.   Am thinking flow in these washes in June must be extremely unusual, if not “historic.”

The well-exposed rain gauge. Note how prickly pear cacti come up to about where the top of the gauge is. Great for keeping the wind losses down when its raining, a problem with rain gauges.

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About 6:30 AM this morning. The Sutherland Wash at the Cottonwoods and also, start of the Baby Jesus Trail.
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The CDO Wash at East Wilds Road, about 6:15 AM this morning showing evidence of a major run last night.

These some totals from around here and in the Catalin Mountains ending at 4 AM AST today from the Pima County ALERT system gauges.  Note 6 h totals, next to last column on the right:
Gauge      15              1             3              6                 24               Name                        Location
    ID#      minutes    hour        hours      hours        hours
    —-     —-       —-        —-       —-         —-       —————–            ———————
Catalina Area
    1010     0.00       0.00       0.08        0.94         0.94      Golder Ranch       Horseshoe Bend Rd in Saddlebrooke
    1020     0.00       0.08       0.16        0.51         0.51      Oracle RS                  0.5 mi SW of Oracle
    1040     0.04       0.04       0.20        2.01         2.01      Dodge Tank              Edwin Rd 1.3 mi E of Lago Del Oro
    1050     0.04       0.12       0.35        2.05         2.05      Cherry Spring          About  1.5 mi W of Charouleau Gap
    1060     0.04       0.20       0.31        2.09         2.09      Pig Spring                   1.1 mi NE of Charouleau Gap
    1070     0.00       0.08       0.24        0.75         0.75      Cargodera Canyon     NE corner of Catalina State Park
    1080     0.08       0.08       0.28        0.71         0.71      CDO @ Rancho Solano     CDO  Wash NE of S-brooke
    1100     0.00       0.04       0.16        0.87         0.87      CDO @ Golder Rd        CDO Wash at Golder Ranch Rd

Santa Catalina Mountains
    1030     0.04       0.16       0.24        1.46         1.46      Oracle Ridge   Oracle Ridge, about 1.5 mi N of Rice Pk
    1090     0.04       0.20       0.51        1.02         1.02      Mt. Lemmon        Ms. Mount Lemmon
    1110     0.04       0.16       0.31        2.44         2.44      CDO @ Coronado Camp    CDO  Wash 0.3 mi S of Coronado Camp
    1130     0.00       0.04       0.12        1.57         2.17      Samaniego Peak   Sam Peak on Samaniego Ridge
    1140     0.00       0.24       0.47        2.13         2.13      Dan Saddle      Dan Saddle on Oracle Ridge
    2150     0.04       0.12       0.31        0.35         0.35      White Tail      Catalina Hwy 0.8 mi W of Palisade RS
    2280     0.00       0.12       0.35        0.39         0.39      Green Mountain      Green Mountain
    2290     0.04       0.20       0.31        0.35         0.35      Marshall Gulch   Sabino Creek 0.6 mi SSE of Marshall Gulch

The above is from a rolling archive, so without a lot of trouble, you won’t be able to see them later on.

The End for now.  Water and spiders in garage requiring immediate cleanup due to R++ last night; 1.00 inches in about 20 min!  Is this June, or WHAT?  Seems like the climate has gone beserk.  Has anyone considered this?

By Art Rangno

Retiree from a group specializing in airborne measurements of clouds and aerosols at the University of Washington (Cloud and Aerosol Research Group). The projects in which I participated were in many countries; from the Arctic to Brazil, from the Marshall Islands to South Africa.

3 comments

    1. You know, its hard to find a great spot for a rain gauge, this far from this and that, shielded from the wind. But that clump of prickly pair was just about perfect, as long as I don’t fall into it while making a measurement!

      a

  1. I’ll bet you’re very careful about making a correct measurement! Anyway, Happy Canada Day greetins, Art. My total amount of rain for June was 69.7 mm. (2.74 inches). That’s within normal range for us.

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