Altocumulus clouds – Page 16

At the risk of repeating myself…

…says the sky on August 5th, referring to almost the exact same sky as on August 4th at this time. Also, both days had OCNL LTG (texting “occasional lightning” here in weatherspeak) off the to distant NE, unusual for this time of day. Even heard thunder this AM.

Below, which shot is from today, just now, and which boring shot of “stratiform” debris clouds from complexes of Cumulonimbus clouds that have dissipated instead of arriving here full strength boo-hoo is from yesterday?

7:02 AM, August 4th. Altocumulus castellanus deck with Altostratus cumulonimbogenitus (watch out how you pronounce this in mixed company). — 6:07 AM, August 5th. Altocumulus floccus/castellanus deck with Altostratus cumulonimbogenitus (watch out how you pronounce this in mixed company).

7:00 AM, August 4th. Altocumulus castellanus deck under Altostratus cumulonimbogenitus.

So what’s the routine now? Gradual thinning with isolated showers, ones that also eventually disappear, followed by brighter skies, and growing of Cumulus clouds like desert weeds in July after the first rain. You’ll have noticed by this time that was a cloud scruff (Stratus fractus) on Ms. Lemmon today, indicating that the moisture is enhanced today over yesterday when the bases were appreciably above Ms. Lemmon. So, a better chance of rain, sans any model glimpses, but then since rain was very sparse yesterday, except for that 2 inches that fell in the mountains S of TUS yesterday afternoon (1.61 inches measured at the Florida Canyon Work Center), almost anything would be an enhancement of a rain chance here over yesterday so I have fudged some words here.

What happened to produce all these dense, morning clouds the past two days? Cloud gigantism in northern Mexico last evening and overnight. Must have had a TON of precip in these complexes that just exploded down there, inches of rain no doubt fell. Sure wish we had some reports under these magnificent blow ups. There are quite a few rain measuring stations in Mexico, but that data is not available from remote areas until they’re published. Here’s a view of last night’s Mexican eruption from IPS Meteostar.

!! PM AST U of AZ mod has rain “on the mountain” (the Catalina ones) by 3 PM AST, and, like yesterday strong storms to the south of us heading this way. But, like yesterday afternoons showers down thataway, they don’t make it here, the model reports. You can do the loop for precip here in their rendition of the WRF-GFS mod. Hoping Mr. Leuthold, our U of AZ expert, will shed further light on this when he reports here today between 10 and 11 AM. In the meantime, I am sure convection expert, Bob (Maddox), will have something to say before then.

Not looking that great for a juicy August rain season here in Catalina Sutherland Heights…. Recall last year we had about 8 inches in July and August here, and at the end of August the mountains and grasses were SO green!

The End.

Pretty and tall Cumulus, early showers and thunder, but, alas, a rain dud here

“Alas”, now there’s a word to don’t see every day…probably a little stiff from laying around so long.

Those Cumulus that shot up over the Catalinas early yesterday morning were a magnificent sight, and so full of promise. And while thunder was heard here just after 11 AM here in Sutherland Heights-Catalina, the showers just did not get off the mountains around here as hoped, though there were a few big boys (or “gals”, to be gender neutral) around to the NW-N and down to the S-SW during the afternoon. Here are the Pima County ALERT totals for the past 24 h. Lemmon had a good drop of 1.46 inches; that’ll surely keep those mountain streams going. But as you will see, not much elsewhere. Just a trace here, our mode for this summer in Sutherland Heights-Catalina area it seems.

BTW, all available model outputs (U of AZ 11 PM run not available at this time) show fewer showers than yesterday, though to CM, it looks like a very similar day to yesterday in sat imagery and such¹. So, it would seem we have a another day with a chance for a good rain in the afternoon or evening, about like yesterday when some showers did form off the mountains and could have landed on us. Besides, even without rain, it was a pretty day anyway. Its all great.

Here is yesterday’s cloud history with its early promise, ultimately only fulfilled only on the Catalinas around here:

6:35 AM. Our usual broken layer of Altocumulus clouds. But, being composed of droplets, are especially subject to dissipation as the sun comes up, irradiates them, and ground plumes begin rising to help finish the job off.

10:32 AM. EVery single and married cloud-maven junior should have been EXTREMELY excited and filled with anticipation at the sight of these towering Cumulus clouds, these early risers (Cumulus congestus erectus). They demonstrate that that the atmosphere was "loaded" for action, that is was really unstable. — 10:32 AM. EVery single and married cloud-maven junior should have been EXTREMELY excited and filled with anticipation at the sight of these towering Cumulus clouds, these early risers (Cumulus congestus erectus). They demonstrate that that the atmosphere was “loaded” for action, that is, was really unstable, ready to produce deep clouds and heavy showers. Above the Cu, the remnant of the morning’s Altocumulus layer.

11:36 AM. Has been thundering on the Lemmon for about half an hour. These next two photos show the risk of being under a nice, darker cloud base with no sign of rain coming out, and then 3 min later (from a video I took), the mountains are obscured in blinding 1-2 inch rainrates per hour.

11:41 AM. A couple minutes after the shaft dropped down. This was another really good sign about this day, the dark bases weren’t going to be “Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders²” so-to-speak in terms of alternative music of the 1980s, but rather, the “real deal”; were shooting up to….the level of glaciation and precip formation! I probably did not have to tell you that last thing when you saw shafts of precip coming out eventually, but suddenly, out of every darkened base.

12:12 PM. "Twin towers" able to escape the mountains. — 12:12 PM. “Twin towers”, able to escape the mountains.

12:51 PM. These beauties. Topmost turret on the left is loaded with ice--can you tell? This is pretty hard to do at this stage. In a couple of minutes, the results of that ice began to show up at the base. — 12:51 PM. These beauties. Topmost turret on the left is loaded with ice–can you tell? This is pretty hard to do at this stage. In a couple of minutes, the results of that ice began to show up at the base.

12:53 PM. Shaft beginning to appear below base. This is the most exciting place to be if you're under it, since the drops are huge, have made it through the now collapsing updraft. Lightning had already occurred by this time, so you have to watch out for these early stages of thunderstorm formation since, underneath it, you might not see the ice forming, and know that the electrification process is well underway. — 12:53 PM. Shaft beginning to appear below base. This is the most exciting place to be if you’re under it, since the drops are huge, have made it through the now collapsing updraft. Lightning had already occurred by this time, so you have to watch out for these early stages of thunderstorm formation since, underneath it, you might not see the ice forming, and know that the electrification process is well underway.

12:57 PM. Puttin' the hammer all the way down. — 12:57 PM. Puttin’ the hammer all the way down.

7:20 PM. Scattered Altocumulus with Altostratus above (a bit too thick to be just "Cirrus." — 7:24 PM. Scattered Altocumulus with Altostratus above (a bit too thick to be just “Cirrus.”

—————————

¹BTW, if you want a really GREAT forecast by a true expert, rather than a “shoot from hip” kind of one that CM so often offers, you have to read what Bob has to say today when he posts it. U of AZ experts also often refer to his careful analyses.

²Here they sing about something we probably don’t want to happen to Catalina, Arizona.

Thunderheads cross border, enter Arizona again

Its not a motorcycle gang, though it would be a good name for one comprised of meteorologists. Don’t think that’s gonna happen.

If you were watching carefully, and you had no radar capability on your smart phone, you could have still detected the presence of clouds producing rain. Here’s what they looked like, in a kind of a washed out, low-contrast view toward the southern horizon. AZ mod didn’t have them there, so it was a nice surprise to see them. It suggests that the chances of scattered rain today, and rumbles from the The Lemmon, are pretty good. Model output from yesterday DID have that for today; rain on The Lemmon this afternoon into this evening, drifting northwestward onto the valley. Yay! Waxing rain gauge so that the first drops don’t stick in the dust covered collector part, but zoom down into the inner cylinder (the part that magnifies the amount collected so you can read hundredths). You don’t want any water molecules from those drops, “leaving the building” before they get in.

Here’s a photo of those thunderheads crossing the border yesterday afternoon:

Nice to see some Cumulus mediocris shading Mt. Lemmon, too.

2:51 PM. Mediocre Cumulus clouds hover over Lemmon.

7:18 PM. By this time, Altocumulus clouds, including some lenticular ones were invading the sky, Along with scattered Cirrus way above them, promised a great multi-colored sunset.

And here it is, nine minutes later:

7:27 PM. Altocumulus and CIrrus clouds, due to their vastly different heights, provide contrasting sunset color.

So, there are pretty much all of your clouds for yesterday. What more can I do?

The End

This just in: just when you think you can’t possibly do anymore, this sunrise;

In case you missed it, today at 5:45 AM. Clouds: Altocumulus opacus.

The Lemmon cloud factory; smokin’ yesterday

The first t yesterday, from growing clouds topping Mt; Lemmon was at 9:30 AM, the earliest such event of the summer. Cumulus that grew immediately into Cumulonimbus clouds, then one cell after another in a continuous stream came off Mt Lemmon with no breaks in the dark bases above the spawning area. Had never seen that before. Usually there are breaks between cells, a brief clearing on even the most active days. And those cells really must have sprouted upward around 11:10 AM when, finally, a second blast of thunder occurred. After that grew much more frequent, and by early afternoon, it was almost continuous. Very exciting, as steady rain fell here.

Here in Catalina Sutherland Heights, we were the beneficiaries of the more stratiform (flat, dissipating) part of those Cumulonimbus that stayed rooted on the mountains. Those flat portions provided a more or less gentle rain amounting to 0.18 inches here. However, more than an inch fell in the Mt. Lemmon and Samaniego ALERT gauges. You can see more rain data here from the U of AZ rainlog. org home page. It is a certainty that some mountain sites got considerably more yesterday if you saw the repeated dense shafts of rain S of Samaniego Peak, where 1.10 inches fell. Guessing the peak (but non-measured total) was more like an 1.5 inches. This should recharge many of the normally dry creeks and streams on the Catalinas, and keep the green coming.

Another aspect, making yesterday one of the best visually pleasing days was the absence of haze and smoke. The sunlit Cumulus clouds that were forming away from the mountains and over Oro Valley were especially, pristinely white and gorgeous; took your breath away to see them piling up so high, and so purely, brilliantly white, so clean looking.

Here are some shots from yesterday, beginning with some “morning castellanus”, which were nice to see, too:

7:50 AM. Always a hopeful sign, Altocumulus castellanus float lazily to the north of Catalina.

8:27 AM. Altocumulus castellanus growing into sizes that they would now be called, Cumulus clouds. Those very flat bases tell you that they are not from plumes of warm air from the ground, but are associated with a moist layer that's being gently lifted. Its clouds like these that produce our dawn thunderstorms and showers from time to time, and indicate there's a disturbance in the area lifting the air. It was another hopeful sign of a significant rain. These clouds, unlike the ones that off our mountains, tend to dissipate like Dracula when the sun comes up and burns them off. — 8:27 AM. Altocumulus castellanus growing into sizes that they would now be called, Cumulus clouds. Those very flat bases tell you that they are not from plumes of warm air from the ground, but are associated with a moist layer that’s being gently lifted. Its clouds like these that produce our dawn thunderstorms and showers from time to time, and indicate there’s a disturbance in the area lifting the air. It was another hopeful sign of a significant rain. These clouds, unlike the ones that were starting to grow over our mountains, tend to dissipate lin the morning hours after the sun comes up and burns them off.

8:12 AM. In the meantime, actual, ground launched Cumulus, from the slight amount of morning heating, were already starting to puff up from Ms. Mt. Lemmon. This was really unusual. You can tell that these are "real" Cumulus because such ground plumes of warmer air produce more irregular bases and scattered shred clouds, show more turbulence (movement) when you watch them than Ac cas clouds, the latter seeming to be almost motionless. Looks like today will be a big day for captions! — 8:12 AM. In the meantime, actual, ground launched Cumulus, from the slight amount of morning heating, were already starting to puff up from Ms. Mt. Lemmon. This was really unusual. You can tell that these are “real” Cumulus because such ground plumes of warmer air produce more irregular bases and scattered shred clouds, show more turbulence (movement) when you watch them than Ac cas clouds, the latter seeming to be almost motionless. Bases of these starting Cumulus not too much different in height than the castellanus clouds in the prior shot. Looks like today will be a big day for captions, if nothing else!

9:25 AM. The first Cumulonimbus is about to announce its presence with a thunderblast. No precip evident here, but aloft, next shot, is the "ice" in the overhanging anvil. — 9:25 AM. The first Cumulonimbus is about to announce its presence with a thunderblast. No precip evident here, but aloft, next shot, is the “ice” in the overhanging anvil.

9:25 AM, overhead view showing that this buildup had already deepened upward enough to form ice, and was about to let go of some precip. See arrows.

9:31 AM. Seconds after first, and completely unexpected thunderblast. Didn't look big enough. Top of Mt. Lemmon is obscured in heavy rain. — 9:31 AM. Seconds after first, and completely unexpected thunderblast. Didn’t look big enough. Top of Mt. Lemmon is obscured in heavy rain.

11:13 AM. Finally a second blast of thunder occurred in this cell, though one rain shaft after another drifted across the Catalinas, fading away as they continued across Catalina and Oro Valley.

11:14 AM. A look at the downwind part of these storms where only the deep, flat portion remains. Yesterday we were lucky since it is often too dry underneath these portions for the rain aloft to reach the ground. Steady light rain was occurring at the time of this photo, while deluges were taking place on Samaniego Ridge. Rain from these Cumulonimbus portions shown here is mainly due to melting snowflakes while the strong shafts are produced by melting hail and or graupel,that began as as frozen drops or ice particles that subsequently get heavily rimed (coated with ice) as they collide with supercooled drops in the vigorous rising portions of Cumulonimbus clouds, finding their way down as the updraft weakens or collapses entirely. I can;t believe how big these captions are getting, but it can’t be helped.

11:27 AM. While things were "humming" along from the Catalinas, Cumulus arose elsewhere in a hurry, producing these gorgeous scenes. This cloud is a Cumulonimbus calvus, that short-lived stage when a congestus begins to form ice in its top, but has not gotten to an obvious fibrous stage. That ice is present is seen in the rainshaft already pouring out of this cloud. Can you see that the very top is ice? — 11:27 AM. While things were “humming” along from the Catalinas, Cumulus arose elsewhere in a hurry, producing this gorgeous scene. This cloud is a Cumulonimbus calvus, that short-lived stage when a congestus begins to form ice in its top, but has not gotten to an obvious fibrous stage. That ice is present is seen in the rainshaft already pouring out of this cloud. Can you see that the very top is ice?

6:52 PM. As with many active days, yesterday ended with "debris" clouds from the many Cumulonimbus clouds that formed early in the day, providing a comfortable evening. The clouds are Altocumulus, looks like at two different levels, with an Altostratus overcast above. — 6:52 PM. As with many active days, yesterday ended with “debris” clouds from the many Cumulonimbus clouds that formed early in the day, providing a comfortable, overcast evening. The clouds are Altocumulus, at two different levels, with an Altostratus overcast above. Who says Arizona is unbearable in July? Some of the most pleasant days of the year are now.

Today is supposed to be another early starter as well with rain on The Lemmon before noon, the model runs at the U of AZ from last night say. However, the longer term model runs indicate a break in the summer rain season for a few days after today. I guess that’s when our weather can be that bit unbearable here in July. Phooey.

The End

A morning surprise; 0.22 inches here doubles the July total

At least it wasn’t predicted the day before, but how nice to see a “mesoscale convective complex¹” (a bunch Cumulonimbus clouds clustered together) come roaring over the Cat Mountains yesterday morning. Here it is, in case you missed it and want to see it again, from the beginning when what was going to happen was in doubt:

11:00 AM. Major rainshaft, and accompanying dark base where updraft is forming new precip approaches Catalina area.

11:47 AM. THe dramatic backside of this cluster, resembling those seen in the Plains States, good mammatus, too. — 11:47 AM. The dramatic backside of this cluster, resembling those seen in the Plains States; good mammatus, too.

It was great, too, to see some evidence of water on the ground, and several natural livestock ponds form due to the storm. Its been too long since puddles formed. I like puddles, BTW².

11:18. Evidence of significant rain; a puddle has formed.

4:38 PM. Calves inspect new livestock pond on Equestrian Trail Road. — 4:38 PM. Calves inspect newly formed livestock pond on Equestrian Trail Road. Mom not impressed.

Go here to see some regional rainfall totals from the Pima County network and here for the U of AZ network.

What was best was the clarity of the air after the rains washed all that smog, and we had our brilliantly white clouds against that deep blue sky back:

4:10 PM Cumulus mediocris over the Catalinas.

Today:

First, right now (6 AM) we have some of the best Altocumulus castellanus around I have ever seen. So pretty!

U of AZ 11 PM mod run expecting afternoon showers/TSTMS over Cat Mountains today, trailing off to the NW and near Catalina proper. Showers and lightning now to the S-SW, expected to die out before reaching us. So, happens, look for bases launched in the late morning and early afternoon to drift overhead–often a street of clouds forms over the southern portions of the Cat mountains about where that dark base in the first photo is, and if we’re lucky, will dump in this area. Look toward Table Mountain and a stream of clouds from around there headed this way.

————

¹It would be great if you used this term with your neighbors when talking about yesterday’s rain: “That was a great MCS that came through yesterday morning! Hope we get another one today, though rain in the morning here is rare, but anyway…..” Neighbor “A what went through?” You: “Oh, sorry, I meant a nice cluster of thunderstorms. ” You continue: “As a cloud-maven junior, I’m learning a lot incomprehensible jargon that I can use to impress neighbors. Hey, have you heard of the ‘diffusion domain’? That’s when you’re flying in clouds and you can’t see either the ground or the sun! The next time you fly and that happens, tell the passenger next to you…..”Hey, I think we’re in the diffusion domain.”

²Photographed a lot of puddles on a trip to Death Valley in 2005 (wettest rain season there in 75 years). It was a lot of fun for me.

The L. A. suns

We begin today by not talking about sports as the title suggests, but rather examining pretty castellanus, Altocumulus castellanus, that is, from yesterday morning:

5:38 AM yesterday from Equestrian Trail Road.

The brighter regions at the top are liquid droplet clouds, below, snow virga as the drops quickly freeze into ice crystals. As they grow and collide, snowflakes (“aggregates of single crystals) develop. But the dry air below the clouds prevents them from falling more than a few thousand feet below those white tops. Too bad. This is also what the tops of many widespread rainy/snowy storms look like if you could cut away just the top few thousand feet, those situations where there is moist air all the way to the ground.

L. A. suns? No, the PHX team did not move to a cooler venue as might be desired on these record breaking hot days. But our orange suns of late, particularly in the late afternoon, are reminiscent of those sunsets seen in smoky, smoggy regions of which this earth has too many.

6:37 PM. The smoky orange sunset yesterday. Ugh.

Furthermore, smoke gets in the way of rain formation, something noted by experimenters as far back as 1957, and later when burning sugar cane in Australia in the 1960s. The burning there stopped the clouds, relatively shallow ones, from raining. This is because smoky clouds have more and smaller drops in them. Smaller drops are resistant to forming ice, and a cloud must become deeper to generate drops large enough to coalescence with one another to form drops big enough to fall out.

So, not only are the skies messed up by smoke, but the formation of rain, too, is interfered with. Fortunately, if deep thundery clouds form, as we expect today in our vicinity, this smoke effect can be overcome at least in those clouds and rain will fall out.

Also, because small drop clouds send more light back into space from their tops, even moderate-sized Cumulus clouds can look awfully dark on the bottom, suggesting they are deeper than they really are.

The End

Pretty castellanus

5:29 AM. Ac floccus and castellanus with virga. Cloud bases (sans virga) were at -10 C (14 F) yesterday.

Along with Altocumulus “floccus¹” as well, many with ice virga. Some clumps got so enthusiastic that they went into sizes that we really can’t name, too large to be Altocumulus elements, and too small to be what we normally would call Cumulus or Cumulonimbus. Here are some more examples of yesterday’s clouds:

5:49 AM. ????? Mostly glaciated, though little virga shows out the bottom. — 5:49 AM. ????? Mostly glaciated, though little virga is coming out the bottom.

6:14 AM. "Micro-cumulonimbus"??? Its got all the ingredients, little anvil. fully glaciated here, and a few drops fell all the way from 13,000 feet about the ground. — 6:14 AM. “Micro-cumulonimbus”??? Its got all the ingredients, little anvil. fully glaciated here, and a few drops fell all the way from 13,000 feet above the ground, but there is no real shaft something you like to see when you call a cloud a Cumulonimbus, Highest tops above 30,000 feet, colder than -40 C (-40 F).

6:22 AM. Off to the south, this classic example of regular Altocumulus castellanus and floccus. So pretty. Note ice plumage beyond Pusch Ridge.

6:53 AM. Lesson. Some liquid water drops reach the highest, coldest point in this buildup. On the right, they're all gone, only ice remains. The droplet part is brighter because the droplets are smaller and reflect more of the sun's light than do the larger ice crystals. — 6:53 AM. Some liquid water drops reach the highest, coldest point in this buildup; that brighter part peaking out on the left. On the right, and at the top, the droplets that were present earlier in this part of the cloud have all evaporated; only ice remains (except in those partly shaded cloud rags). The droplet part is brighter because the droplets are smaller, they’re are more of them, and reflect more of the sun’s light than do the larger ice crystals at the top.

Taking a bite out of drought in the Plains States

Here the Drought Monitor for May 7th. Looks pretty bad in the central and southern Plains States and the central and southern Rockies.

But here’s what’s happened according to WSI’s radar-derived rain totals over the 7 days ending since this map. Makes you fell that bit better for our drought-stricken brothers even if we didn’t get anything. And it looks like rains will continue off and on in droughty Plains areas now for another two weeks. Excellent. Nothing in sight here, sadly.

The 7-day rainfall totals ending on May 14, 2013.

The End (still putting life together after moving; posts will be a bit sparse).

—————-

¹“Floccus” has a ragged or lofted base, one higher than the other ones around.

Pillar of the sun

At sunset yesterday, this rarely seen optical display called a “sun pillar”:

6:58 PM. A sun pillar sprouted from the horizon due to a few plate-like ice crystals falling from those Altocumulus clouds.

Waited for a cute bird or bat to fly above or through the pillar, making it a more popular, valuable photo; instead a helicopter came by. But it “works” as shown below. You’ll have to look hard, but its there.

also at 6:58 PM. "Sun pillar with helicopter" $975. — Also at 6:58 PM. “Sun pillar with helicopter” $975. But, if you call now, you’ll get TWO of these exact same photos for $1,950.

Some of yesterday’s other interesting cloud formations:

4:25 PM. Patch of CIrrus spissatus with flanking CIrrus uncinus. — 4:25 PM. Patch of CIrrus spissatus with flanking Cirrus uncinus.

5:30 PM. CIrrocumulus (left side, fine granulation) and Altocumulus (larger more separated elements) right side. The whitish veil to the left of these droplet clouds are ice crystals. — 5:30 PM. CIrrocumulus (center, left, fine granulation) and Altocumulus (larger more separated elements) right side. The whitish veil to the left of these droplet clouds are ice crystals that likely formed within them.

6:38 PM. The fine and extremely delicate patterns in Cirrocumulus clouds still amaze.

Today’s clouds

Weak wave/trough passing to the south of us has some great middle and high clouds in it, splotchy ones that are sometimes incredibly spectacular, clouds like Altocumulus castellanus/floccus with virga. Just looked outside now and some of those are to the southwest of us at 5:35 AM. You can see how complex the cloud coverage is at IPS MeteoStar’s sat-radar loop here. They’ll be gone later today so enjoy them while they’re here.

The Weather Ahead

There are many troughs foretold for the Southwest and Great Basin area over the next two weeks. That the good news; it also goes with long term climo patterns that troughs like to nest in the Great Basin. But none extrude far enough southward, that is, the jet stream racing around the trough bottoms does not reach us, to bring precip to southern Arizona. Occasionally precip hits northern Arizona over this two week period, which is good, of course, for them and water supplies. In fact, its not even likely that we’ll see a cloud below 10,000 feet above ground level here if this pattern holds. And with troughs and low pressure centers nearby to the north, periods of windiness and dust will occur as they go by.

Fortunately, I guess, there’s little confidence indicated in these forecasts beyond about 11 days, NOAA spaghetti says, and so there are surprises that can pop up yet.

The End.

April as seen in rain day frequencies; some wildflowers seen

update April — Captions included in diagram!

————————————-

Guest Statement/retrospective on March 2013 for Tucson by Mr. Mark Albright, a mostly temperature-centric climatologist specialist from the University of Washington:

“March 2013 was the 2nd warmest March in the past 65 years (1949-2013) at the Tucson Airport (KTUS) with an average temperature of 65.7 F which was +5.6 F above the 1981-2010 normal of 60.1 F. The only warmer March was 9 years ago in 2004 with a mean temperature of 66.6 F. By contrast, the coldest March occurred in 1973 with a mean temperature of only 51.6 F.

March 2013 precipitation totaled 0.01 inches at the Tucson Airport, the driest March since 1999 when ZERO precipitation was recorded in March. In the past 65 years ZERO precipitation has been observed in March 5 times: 1956, 1959, 1971, 1984, and 1999. March normal precipitation for the Tucson Airport is 0.73 inches.”

Mark may contribute more material in the future in the form of guest blogs when CM’s brain is fried.

—————————————

How about them Altocumulus castellanus/floccus virgae clouds yesterday?

8:54 AM. Altocumulus floccus virgae (with snow falling out) above a housing castellanus.

9:07 AM. Long trails of snow made these clouds exceptional. In the foreground, riding pal, Nora B, who talks mainly about birds and wildflowers (she and hubby have a book out on the latter) while I talk mainly about clouds and snow aloft on the rides. — 9:07 AM. Long trails of snow made these Altocumulus floccus clouds exceptional yesterday. In the foreground, riding pal, Nora B, who talks mainly about birds and wildflowers (she and hubby have a book out on the latter, Wildflowers of Arizony) while I talk mainly about clouds and snow aloft on the rides, so there’s no real communication on the rides (hahaha). I thought you would want to know that.

The wildflowers were better than expected along the trail, considering our once a month storm frequency for the past three months. Here are some for you. Can you name them?

Dry, windy, dusty blast coming on Monday, followed by air that’s too cold for April later that day into the middle of the week, but you knew that already. More on weather tomorrow.

The End.

“Gray skies, nothing but gray skies, from now on”

Well, at least much of today anyway. The title for today is from Gershwin, of course, and the version of a song he later changed to “Blue Skies” (really old version here)–this was after he moved from New York, an extremely cloudy state, to southern California (“Hollywood”, in 1936) where weathermen can sleep for six months due to soporifically boring weather, to emphasize that weather aspect there with redundancy since “soporific” means boring as well. I lived there in so. Cal., myself, San Fernando Valley, growing up and I know first hand. Slept out in the backyard with doggie in case a sprinkle fell out of Altocumulus in the summers and didn’t want to miss it¹ That’s how bad it was weatherwise.

Continuing, Gershwin didn’t think “Gray Skies” was so uplifting as a song, and he eventually changed the title to something more “accessible” as a popular song (who wants to think about Altostratus, or, Stratocumulus???).

BTW, you won’t find facts like this on other blogs; in fact, to be redundant with the word “fact”, won’t find this kind of information anywhere else at all!

We got us some more of that Altostratus overhead today, and in places, embedded or separate patches of Altocumulus (droplet clouds), and you know what this means. Its snowing up there above 15,000 feet above ground level, and if Ms. Mt. Lemmon was only a few thousand feet higher, there would be PLENTY of snow on top. There could be some spectacular sunrises/sunsets today and tomorrow as this stream of tropical moisture aloft passes by. Be ready.

Yesterday’s clouds

First, a couple of “action” shots, ones where glaciation is taking place:

6:48 AM. You know the drill, (the cloud) used to be this, and now its that. Droplets to ice, its a natural thing. — 6:48 AM. You know the drill, (the cloud) used to be this, and now its that. “Droplets to ice; its a natural thing.” The droplet cloud on the right side is Altocumulus perlucidus (looks somewhat like a honeycomb).

6:47 AM. Some more of that over there. Sometimes I have called the icy small patches, "The Ghosts of Perlucidus." (Happens because the clouds are not only real cold, but damn cold (usually less than -30 C (-22 F). — 6:47 AM. Some more of that over there. Sometimes I have called the icy small patches, “The Ghosts of Perlucidus.” (Happens because the clouds are not only real cold, but damn cold (usually less than -25 C (-13 F).

The weather ahead

This page intentionally left blank.

The End.

—————-

¹ In case you don’t believe me, maybe I just made that up about sleeping out, only pretending to be some kind of weather fanatic in this blog, this picture for the doubters out there from those summer days with doggie in the backyard; hoping for a drop so I could enter it in my weather diary. Oh, yeah, I had one.

I hope you’re happy now. I put it in full size so that you could see it was me, not someone else.