Switzerland of Arizona

…sort of.  Today’s storm ended after dumping a fabulous 1.03 inches here in “Catalina Heights.”   Though it snowed very lightly here for several hours, the ground and the air were just a bit too warm for accumulations.   However, the heavy precip dumped a heavy snow cover on the Catalina mountains just  to the east.  That  snow that will be there for awhile as we enter a below normal temperature regime for the next week or two. Below, a view of that snow on the Catalinas.  Fabulous, isn’t it?

Also, as the clouds break up and with the air so clean, you have these “quilted” views of sun and shade across Oro Valley and on the Catalinas as the cloud shadows dance across the ground, another , somehow, soul satisfying scene.

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.