Category: Cumulonimbus clouds

A last WY rain adds to total; 0.17 inches in violent, short-lived morning storm

Our WY total has crested over 11 inches now.  Its at 11.08 inches for the water year ending on September 30th, still about 5.5 inches below normal with only dry days ahead.  Still it was nice to see a great thundersquall come through on the last day of the summer regime, though I was about… Continue reading A last WY rain adds to total; 0.17 inches in violent, short-lived morning storm

0.08 inches falls overnight on water year data! Must revise chart after “dare” to reflect new 10.91 inches total

Yesterday, in a ploy to get some rain, I “dared” it to rain on the water year data I presented for Catalina.  I didn’t think it would, to be honest, and also wanted a data “scoop” over other presenters of data who might be too shy to present data prematurely.  Remember, the rubric here is,… Continue reading 0.08 inches falls overnight on water year data! Must revise chart after “dare” to reflect new 10.91 inches total

Updated Catalina water year rainfall; so much ice, so little rain yesterday

Add to text box, lower left, the words: “….unless you’re quite young.” Looked like there was a leveling off during the past 15 years, along with the “puzzling 15-year hiatus1” in global warming, coincidentally, so I used a “poly” fit instead of a linear one that would reflect the “stabilization” of water year rainfall in… Continue reading Updated Catalina water year rainfall; so much ice, so little rain yesterday

Last summer Cumulonimbus sightings expected today and Saturday (use telescope)

If you were on Ms. Mt. Lemmon, or just in Tucson yesterday taking your wife to the airport for some reason, you would have seen a line of large Cumulonimbus tops lining the east through southeast horizon in a broken line.  It was pretty impressive, and demonstrated how close our summer rain regime still is,… Continue reading Last summer Cumulonimbus sightings expected today and Saturday (use telescope)

Water year status (October through September precip)

Can there be any rain before the official end of the month, measurable rain that might improve our dismal 10.83 inches, droughty total? Not if you believe our own WRF-GFS model run from last night, but, “yes” if you like Canada and the Canadian GEM model.  It has some rain in the area for us… Continue reading Water year status (October through September precip)

The little rogue Cb (sports format: Rogue Cb 1, CAPE, 0)

Later I noticed that the afternoon sounding from TUS had ZERO CAPE, a measure of how unstable the atmosphere is.  With zero CAPE (no instability indicated), you don’t expect a Cb.  Hence the title, a sciency humor. With yesterday’s capped clouds, capped by a horrific inversion at 16,000 feet above sea level, you may have… Continue reading The little rogue Cb (sports format: Rogue Cb 1, CAPE, 0)

Nearby locations get shafted as summer thunderstorms go on for one more day

Looks now, in spite of a few Altocumulus clouds around that yesterday was the LAST day of our summer rain season in terms of having rain. Much drier air moving across Arizona from the west now. Kinda sad about it, still yesterday was GREAT, a final tribute in a way. Will have some stats tomorrow… Continue reading Nearby locations get shafted as summer thunderstorms go on for one more day

Dessicated thunderstorms

The extreme dryness above a shallow moist layer yesterday made it tough to get any rain out of the several thunderstorms that occurred WNW to N of Catalina.  No black walls of rain from those guys, which seemed odd due to their sizes.  The dainty “waists”, the mid-sections of tall clouds so often seen yesterday,… Continue reading Dessicated thunderstorms

Tubes is us

Buried among the small fair weather Cumulus clouds over the Catalina Mountains were a two fair-weather vortices. Have seen only maybe six of these in a lifetime of skycentricity:   In the meantime, after more hours heating, a few Cumulonimbus clouds reared their heads, ones that were much closer than the day before.  Was hoping… Continue reading Tubes is us