Yes, that really is a cloud name; kinda silly really. Oh, well…. First, since there wasn’t enough rain here to make me happy–there wasn’t ANY in Catalina yesterday, I thought I would start out by making people feel better with a “Clouds R Fun” photo from yesterday. Here are two “puppy” clouds, side by side,… Continue reading Too much “Altostratus cumulonimbogenitus”
Author: 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.
Stormy, pretty weather
It’s great when things are as they are supposed to be. Below, “the usual” kinds of scenes in July in southeast AZ from yesterday, such as Cumulus boiling off Mt Lemmon in the late morning, followed by dense rainshafts in almost every direction in the later afternoon. I love these scenes! Well, “usual” for SE… Continue reading Stormy, pretty weather
Whiteout!
Check this out for yesterday at 6:05 and 6:15 PM. First, part of the precursor FULL rainbow to the east of Catalina. (In most locales a rainbow to the east would mean the storm has passed.) The second shot was taken at the height of this magnificent storm. I thought I had seen it… Continue reading Whiteout!
Colorful
Both the rainbow last evening, and in a momentary language lapse below…. A once-severe severe thunderstorm with warnings out at one time, whimpered into Catalina last evening giving us just sprinkles or, in aviation parlance, “RW–” (meaning, “very light rain shower”) And long with it, one of our memorable sunset views of the rocky faces… Continue reading Colorful
Happy desert everyone!
I think it should be a holiday when the summer rains have crested over the inch mark, a “personal holiday” anyway, if you get one where you work. With a second day in a row yesterday with THREE sets of thunderstorms going over Catalina, and hearing thunder from about 1 PM until 9 PM,… Continue reading Happy desert everyone!
0.73 inches
Bullseye thunderstorm off the Catalina’s between 12:30 and 1:30 PM really did it, dropping a miraculous 0.55 inches. I suspect that 300 yards N and S got less than our driveway did where the gage is located. The smells, the puddles, the water running down the road; it was all so marvelous, and seemingly… Continue reading 0.73 inches
Rainy portent in a scruff of cloud
….that scruff of cloud topping Mt. Sara Lemmon around dawn this morning, to finish the thought. This: Why? Because seeing a cloud topping Mt. Lemmon instead of well above it indicates that the air is very moist and cloud bases are going to be realtively low, substantially lower than yesterday. This in turn means… Continue reading Rainy portent in a scruff of cloud
Invasion of the water molecules
At least more of them…. Overnight (take a look here), the dewpoint temperature, a measure of how much frost would build up in your refrigerator freezer and/or drip down the walls of it if you left the doors open and the refrigerator on, climbed a whopping ten degrees early this morning! Yay, “mo better”… Continue reading Invasion of the water molecules
First thunder
While only a disappointing trace of rain was observed here, it was so stimulating to see that evening lightning flicker beyond the Catalina mountains for the first time this summer. And then see more lightning, unexpectedly, close enough to produce the first thunder early this morning between 2-4 AM. A few large, sparse drops… Continue reading First thunder
“Pyrocumulus”, an awful sight yesterday evening
There may have been some sharp eyed folks that saw a great looking Cumulus congestus in the distance off to the NNE of Catalina yesterday. The shots below were just before 7 PM LST. Perhaps there was a shower or thunderstorm on the Mogollon Rim. Sadly, even I was fooled for a few microseconds… Continue reading “Pyrocumulus”, an awful sight yesterday evening