Western drought status: before and after the Big Niño erupted

“BN”, sometimes referred to in the media as the,  “Godzilla Niño” of 15-16. Before, one year ago, the drought status as presented by the National Drought Monitor folks there in Cornhuskerland, Lincoln, NE: First, a legend, no, not a story, though we could write one,  “The Legend of the Ghost Niño of 2015-16“,  but rather… Continue reading Western drought status: before and after the Big Niño erupted

Traces of rain and a Lemmon rainbow

Some rain fell about this time in Catalina.  Not enough to darken the pavement completely at any time.  The main thing to take away from that hour of very light rain is that it was not “drizzle” as even some errant meteorologists call such sprinkles. You will be permanently banned from attending any future meetings… Continue reading Traces of rain and a Lemmon rainbow

The Domes of Lemmon

Thought maybe I would trick some moviephiles into sampling a cloudcentric blog, jack up my ratings through error.   Well,  “The Domes of Lemmon” COULD be a movie…maybe one about, Sara Lemmon, for whom the mountain is named for, maybe starring Madonna as the feisty young botanist.  Well, maybe not “young”… Notice, too,  that I capitalized… Continue reading The Domes of Lemmon

Frosty, the Lemmon

When one first encounters this title with its unexpected play on words, we wonder what the author had in mind.   Of course, most of us know that at Christmastime, we are often regaled by a Christmas tune called, “Frosty the Snowman1“.   But here, we are surprised as we continue reading the title that instead… Continue reading Frosty, the Lemmon

Best model output for you

Been looking around at quite a number of model runs (well 2, anyway) trying to find the best one for you.  Here it is.  Its yesterday’s WRF-GFS run that was based on 11 AM AST global data.  Has some great rains for us here in Arizona.  Those rains, and that incredible hurricane that saunters up… Continue reading Best model output for you

Supercloud’s CAPE to be bigger today

I was marveling at this title, one that just came out of nowhere, using the idea of a superhero and a standard measure of how bubbly the clouds might be.  I really don’t know how it happened, but there it was… Think of “supercloud” as a Cumulonimbus cloud, those giants of the cloud kingdom, ones… Continue reading Supercloud’s CAPE to be bigger today

Rain piling up; total 0.35 inches at 3 AM! Now its 0.48 inches at 6 AM!

Sounds more exciting if you title like that…and that’s what I’m here for, excitement, weather and cloud excitement! Pima County ALERT 24 h precip totals, some around here below,  as of 6 AM: Gauge             15         1           3          6            24         Name                        Location     ID#      minutes    hour        hours      hours        hours     —-     —-       —-        —-       —-         —-      … Continue reading Rain piling up; total 0.35 inches at 3 AM! Now its 0.48 inches at 6 AM!

Fog and Cumulus; Mr. Frosty ahead?

An unusual sight yesterday:  bulging dawn Cumulus fronted by fog.  These Cumulus (not spawned by ground currents) suggest instability aloft, a rapid decline in temperatures with increasing height, which allows the buoyancy of “warmish air” in-cloud  surrounded by cooler air to go up,  whilst fog1 suggests the opposite; cold, damp, heavy air that can’t go… Continue reading Fog and Cumulus; Mr. Frosty ahead?