Cold front with a spectacular arcus cloud rolls across Catalina; 0.68 inches logged in Sutherland Heights!

The “entrance” of our major cold front yesterday was spectacular!  Hope you were able to stand upright in the wind, gusts to 60 mph,  that just preceded it and saw that arcus cloud march across the Tortolita Mountains and into Oro Valley and Saddlebrooke.  If you didn’t, its reprised here,  of course.

The arrival of the rain and front was PERFECTLY predicted1 by the U of AZ model night before last;  the first drops were supposed to fall between 3 and 4 PM, and by 4 PM, there they were,  framed by one of the most spectacular arcus cloud formations I have ever seen.  Let’s look now, instead of wading through the whole cloud day leading up to it.  Feature a lot of views of the same thing, zoomed differently, it was THAT spectacular:

DSC_0448

3:46 PM.
3:46 PM.
3:46 PM.
3:46 PM.
3:46 PM.
3:46 PM.
3:49 PM.
3:49 PM.
3:52 PM.
3:52 PM.
DSC_0477
3:58 PM. The engulfing of Saddlebrooke.
3:58 PM. And as it passed over Sutherland Heights. Not quite as spectacular appearing as elsewhere.
3:58 PM. And as it passed over Sutherland Heights. Not quite as spectacular appearing as elsewhere.

Here’s what the temperature did yesterday afternoon as this arcus cloud and wind shift line hit:

A temperature record (in Fahrenheit, of course) of our cold front passage yesterday. Got down to 37° F for a few minutes before the recovery started.
A temperature record (in Fahrenheit, of course) of our cold front passage yesterday. Got down to 37° F for a few minutes before the recovery started.

 

The End

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1CMP got a little overexcited and had rain in the area prematurely in his own forecast  (i. e., rain in the area beginning between 11 AM and 2 PM), trying to go 1 up on the model.   Bad idea.     And no ice whatsoever was seen in those afternoon Cu that started to develop, as CMP was SURE was going to happen, eyeballs straining for ice.  Didn’t see the expected precursor lenticulars, either!

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.