Rain clouds drop more rain on Catalina; 0.24 inches logged as of 7 AM

But what kind of rain clouds? That’s why you come here, to answer important questions like that.  After all, those precipitating clouds could have been Nimbostratus, Stratocumulus opacus praecipitatio, Cumulonimbus capillatus incus flammagenitus,  or even just “plain” Cumulonimbus capillatus (no anvil),  and possibly, Stratus opacus nebulosos praecipitatio. Of course, with no large fires around, we… Continue reading Rain clouds drop more rain on Catalina; 0.24 inches logged as of 7 AM

Cooking with solar; dusty cool snap still ahead (25th or so)

It was 99 F here in Catalina yesterday. Spinning entity in AZ today.  See it here in the water vapor imagery from the Huskies, the Washington ones.  Not much moisture with it, but we did see a couple of….. of…..yes, “Cumulus fractus” yesterday, maybe one big enough to be a humilis, if “big” and “humilis” can… Continue reading Cooking with solar; dusty cool snap still ahead (25th or so)

Story time: They said they couldn’t exist, but we found some anyway (extra giant raindrops)

While waiting for the chance of rain mid-week next week, I thought I would tell another science story… How me and Doc Hobbs got into the Guinness Book of World Records Rain drops bigger than about 5 mm in diameter (only about 0.2 inches) are thought, mainly through lab experiments, to break up into smaller drops… Continue reading Story time: They said they couldn’t exist, but we found some anyway (extra giant raindrops)

“Pyrocumulus”, an awful sight yesterday evening

There may have been some sharp eyed folks that saw a great looking Cumulus congestus in the distance off to the NNE of Catalina yesterday.   The shots below were just before 7 PM LST.  Perhaps there was a shower or thunderstorm on the Mogollon Rim. Sadly, even I was fooled for a few microseconds… Continue reading “Pyrocumulus”, an awful sight yesterday evening