Cloud-maven – Page 56 – About real clouds, weather, cloud seeding and science autobio life stories by WMO consolation prize-winning meteorologist, Art Rangno

Water year status (October through September precip)

As water year winds down, just a couple of weeks left, its worthwhile to see where we are. Pretty dismal. You can see why the spring wildflower bloom was minimal around here. Great December, though!

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 on Sunday the 22nd. Here it is:

Valid at 5 PM, Sunday September 22nd. Note green in SE AZ (lower right panel), and blue for moist air around 10,000 feet ASL in the left lower panel. Excellent model run.

In the meantime, our own model run has the moist plume WAY to the east at that same time, and so no rain here. Here is that map from the WRF-GFS , as rendered by IPS Meteostar, for moisture around 10,000 feet ASL. The blue moist plume in the Canadian model above (get microscope out) is the same as the green one below, except that the green moist plume is shoved off to the east and south. Dang.

Also valid for 5 PM AST, Sunday September 22nd. The green plume here across NM and into the Plains should be compared with the blue plume at this level (700 mb) in the Canadian run above.

Saw some clouds in the moonlight just now. Seems that drier air can’t quite get rid of our summer regime moist plume, one that even yesterday was close enough to us to have produced a thunderhead off toward Mt. Graham and vicinity to the NE. The chances are small we’ll get any more measurable rain, but as in sports, that moist plume seems to be hanging around, and you know that old sports saying that when heavily favored teams let underdogs “hang around”; don’t blow them out as expected, upsets can happen. Well, of course, that’s what I am hoping for, just that bit more rain to at least push us over the 11 inch mark. Its not a BIG hope, just 0.17 inches more before October 1st.

Here are a couple of cloud shots from yesterday:

SONY DSC — 7:34 AM. When it seemed the mid-level moisture should be gone, there it is, hanging around. These Altocumulus clouds meant that Cumulus were also likely to form in the above normal heating we have going on now.

The End

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 spotted this remarkable sight late yesterday; first the wide angle view, then the zoomed view:

6:08 PM. Zoomed view. Now you can just barely make out the little rain shaft, and the ice-ed out tops sticking up above the Stratocumulus clouds. Just amazing! How did that happen? — 6:08 PM. Zoomed view. Now you can just barely make out the little rain shaft, and the ice-ed out tops sticking up above the Stratocumulus clouds. Just amazing! How did this happen? Don’t know, unless it was REALLY hot over there.

The 5 PM AST Tucson sounding for yesterday. — The 5 PM AST Tucson sounding for yesterday from the University of Wyoming Cowboys, located in Laramie, Wyoming, the happiest state in the whole US. Really, there is hardly a jollier people than those in Wyoming!¹ According to our analysis software, there is no instabiity indicated that would support a Cumulonimbus cloud protruding to 25 or 30 Kft as the one in the photos above is doing. But, oops, there it is!

Still, even with mashed clouds, yesterday was often a very pretty one, in the 99 F heat here in SH, and ended with a great sunset. See below:

12:24 PM. Mounding Cumulus cloud adds a bit of interest here. Thought it was possible for some virga, but didn't happen. Not cold enough at mounding top. — 12:24 PM. Mounding Cumulus cloud adds a bit of interest here. Thought it was possible for some virga, but didn’t happen. Not cold enough for ice to form in mounding top, but you knew that already. Also, the high mountain horizon NW-NE was “silent” yesterday. No Cb tops seen.

3:31 PM. One of the greatest examples of Cumulus humilis (humble) you'll ever see. They're screaming at you; my head hurts; there's an inversion on it! — 3:31 PM. One of the greatest examples of Cumulus humilis (“humble”) you’ll ever see. They’re screaming at you; “my head hurts; there’s an inversion on it!”

6:32 PM. “All’s well that ends well”–Bill Gates. Yesterday’s heating and strong inversion kept the Cu hum forming and filling in so that they accumulated at the base of the inversion, eventually leading to almost overcast skies in the late afternoon and evening. And with clear skies farther west, resulted in this beauty as the sun sank below the horizon.

The weather ahead…

Seems like were destined to be on the edge of the summer rains for another week or so, meaning we might have to get telescopes out to see a big fat Cumulonimbus clouds. Canadian model from last night had some rain moving into southern AZ on the 23rd ahead of a big trough. We’ll see.

I also saw, in the “Moonlight Feels Right moonlight this morning (the singer of that song keeps laughing; must be from Wyoming….)”, some Altocu around. So, at least another scenic day, it a dry one today.

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¹OBJECTIVE HAPPINESS BY STATE. I’ve posted this before, but I felt it was good to remind my reader where the jolliest people are in case he/she’s thinking of a vacation and want to go to a happy place, not a grumpy ones like those in New York State.

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 on how we did here in Catalina/SH compared to normal. Big trough comes in around the 25th to give a preview of cool fall weather. I suppose you’ll like that, not being hot every day.

In the meantime, your cloud day yesterday below, in detail, of course.

9:12 AM. Pretty Altocumulus/ floccus and castellanus (has a flat bottom).

11:38 AM. Early, plumpy Cumulus clouds over Oro Valley and the Torts give hope for some rain. On the right, a "cloud street", one issuing off the Catalinas toward the Torts. — 11:38 AM. Early, plumpy Cumulus clouds over Oro Valley and the Torts give hope for some rain. On the right, a “cloud street”, one issuing off the Catalinas toward the Torts.

12:08 PM. Here's a promising sign. Its only 12:08 PM and there's a wall of Cumulonimbus lining the high terrain N to NNE of Catalina/SH. Could be that there is still enough water up top to support a thunderhead 'round here. — 12:08 PM. Here’s a promising sign. Its only 12:08 PM and there’s a wall of Cumulonimbus lining the high terrain N to NNE of Catalina/SH. Could be that there is still enough water up top to support a thunderhead ’round here.

12:26 PM. NOthing much going on in this cloud street. But it will amazingly enough. — 12:26 PM. Nothing much going on in this cloud street. But it will, amazingly enough.

12:47 PM. Since I want you to think exactly the same things that I do, you should have thought, "Huh. That's not a bad cloud base just over there on top of Oro Valley. Wonder if its going to do anything (form ice) topside?" At this point, you start obsessing over this cloud bottom, not leaving it for even a minute because you don't want to miss anything. Maybe you call a friend, too, and tell them about it. — 12:47 PM. Since I want you to think exactly the same things that I do, you should have thought, “Huh. That’s not a bad cloud base just over there on top of Oro Valley. Wonder if its going to do anything (form ice) topside?” At this point, you start obsessing over this largest cloud bottom, not leaving it for even a minute because you don’t want to miss anything. Maybe you call a friend, too, and tell them about it. That’s probably what you should have done.

12:55 PM. You're upset you didn't call a friend because now you see that there's a ton of ice up at the top, no shaft coming out of the bottom, but there surely will be. You could have let them know there was going to at least be rain, especially if they live over there by Saddlebrooke Ranch. — 12:55 PM. You’re upset you didn’t call a friend because now you see that there’s a ton of ice up at the top, no shaft coming out of the bottom, but there surely will be. You could have let them know there was going to at least be rain, especially if they live over there by Saddlebrooke Ranch.

1:00 PM. Just five minutes later, the shaft is already on the ground!

1:08 PM. Thunder galore by now, and a surprising even to me, strong thunderstorm. And there wasn't another one around for about 50 miles in all directions! How lucky were we? Plenty. — 1:08 PM. Thunder galore by now, and a surprising even to me, strong thunderstorm. And there wasn’t another one around for about 50 miles in all directions! How lucky were we? Plenty.

4:20 PM. The last thunderstorm of the day was over there behind the Catalinas. Could here thunder from. I love Ms. Mt. Lemmon and the Catalinas, but lately they've been letting me down. No thunderheads have shot upward from them, only morning Cu and afternoon moderate Cu, mostly, "hold the ice"; not even deep enough to form ice. Its hard to keep caring for something when its always letting you down. — 4:20 PM. The last thunderstorm of the day was over there behind the Catalinas. Could here thunder from. I love Ms. Mt. Lemmon and the Catalinas, but lately they’ve been letting me down. No thunderheads have shot upward from them, only morning Cu and afternoon moderate Cu, mostly, “hold the ice”; not even deep enough to form ice. Its hard to keep caring for something when its always letting you down.

6:36 PM. Still, it was a great cloud effort yesterday, and here even in the evening, some are still putting out. And with a couple of drops from the earlier storm to the NW, we got to register a trace of rain in The Heights.

Find the ice; view the flowers

Today’s cloud lesson is in a quiz format. Find the ice in the photos below. As you know, ice in clouds is nearly always required before rain can fall out of clouds here in, well, all of Arizona, not just here in Catalinaland. Can you see some in the photos of of moderate Cumulus clouds below?
If nothing else, these shots show the kind of pretty skies we have now days. A few isolated Cumulonimbus clouds remain on the far horizon, NW to NE, as our summer rain season goes on, but barely. You can see those in the photos, below, if you have some binoculars.

BTW, I would suggest a hike/horseback ride into the Catalina foothills because there is currently an amazing profusion of morning glories in their full glory. Here are a couple of examples of what was seen last Saturday in a hike up the “Middle Gate” up into the foothills. It was STUNNING! They were not just along the trail, but extended into the brush like poppies do in the spring. So pretty. Took too many photos, was it 200? (202). But every few yards up there on the east side of the Sutherland Wash was so seductive.

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, was also odd.

Here are some shots, beginning with the auspicious start of early towering Cumulus clouds over the Catalinas:

12:15 PM. First Cumulonimbus well underway! However, look at how the top is leaning off to the east. You haven't seen that before in months, and is an indication of that dessicated westerly flow eroding our tropical air higher above the ground. Also, to go on a bit, the wind shear, the change in direction and speed as you go higher, is taking the glaciated parts of this storm away from its base, not good. This means that the rain, resulting from melting snow and graupel, is falling out into very dry air instead of down through to the base. Not good. — 12:15 PM. First Cumulonimbus well underway! A nice early start to precipitating clouds! However, look at how the top is leaning off to the east. You haven’t seen that in months, and is an indication of that dessicated air flowing from the west is eroding our tropical air in the mid and higher cloud levels. This also means that the rain, resulting from melting snow and graupel in high glaciated turrets of Cumulonimbus clouds , is falling out into very dry air instead of down through the base of the cloud. Not good.

3:15 PM. Pinched off. Another sign of just how dry the air was in the middle heights of these clouds.

5:47 PM. An amazing sight, this extremely tall cloud, shooting up through the extremely dry air above its base. Cumulus clouds can do this because on the way up they have circulations in them akin to vortex rings which protect them to some degree from the dry ambient air on the way up (they’re still entraining the ambient air around them). However, when the air motion slows and the vortex rings fall apart, dry air rushes in and kills the cloud. In cloud speak, this is called, “entrainment.” This is much like a smoke ring that travels across a room and then suddenly, disintegrates as the spinning inside it slows down.

6:28 PM. As usual on these last summer rain season days, we had another pastel sunset, so nice to see.

There will still be enough lower level moisture over the next few days for Cumulus clouds, and maybe distant Cumulonimbus ones.

Way out there, in model fantasy land, the WRF-GFS mod from last evening’s global data crunch, has a tropical storm remnant affecting us on the 30th, but nothing before then.

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 for an eruption over Ms. Lemmon, but it didn’t happen. Didn’t even see any ice form in those clouds. Wonder if you saw and logged these Cumulonimbus tops in your weather diary yesterday? First a precursor shot:

12:11 PM. First Cu turret seen that really stuck up thousands of feet higher than anything else yesterday. Don’t see signs of ice yet, that it had gotten high/cold enough to form precip. Nice lighting, though, with those shadows on the Gap. Its a great scene when have them on our now greenish mountains.

Below, zoomed views of Cumulonimbus tops, ones that were closer than the day before, but not that close.

Below, as promising as the clouds got over the Cat Mountains yesterday. I was so hopeful here, as I know you were, too, that maybe at least a little shower would drift off, some ice would form in these bulging Cumulus mediocris to Cu congestus clouds. But no, none of that happened. Still, its a nice photo with those nice shadows on our greenish mountains, to repeat a thought since I’ve run out imagination.

2:53 PM. Pretty much the peak of the cloud development over the Catalinas yesterday. — 2:53 PM. Pretty much the peak of the cloud development over the Catalinas yesterday, hold the ice.

Looks like a pretty similar day ahead, some Cu, an isolated Cb somewhere out there, and that’s about it as our “tropical river” remains east of us, terminating on Boulder, Colorado, while flushing out NM as well with big storms. If you want to read more about what done it, you should go to Bob’s site since he’s written up stuff in journals about the huge prior floods in Colo and SD, that are somewhat similar to the current deluges in Colo.

This is the very SAME tropical river responsible the recent heavy rains in eastern California and southern Nevada, across Arizona and New Mexico, into Utah and Colorado over the past week. While there will be plenty of damage with this last Colorado deluge, the drought relief aspects will be worth billions.

Seeing cloud tops over Prescott from Catalina; Douglas tops 16 inches in summer rain

Here they are:

2:53 PM. Cumulonimbus tops with their anvils line horizon northwest to north. The ones that begin this series on the left are in the Prescott area. See radar chart below. Cumulus fractus clouds are in the foreground.

ann prc-1 — 2:45 PM AST. Arizona radar echoes yesterday at the time of the photo. Note little green patch SW of Prescott, maybe Peoples Valley area. Radar courtesy of WSI Intellicast. That would be the leftmost tops.

6:41 PM. Nice sunset with "surprise" Cumulonimbus located NW of Sells. Nice little virga patch hanging down from some Altocumulus next to it. — 6:41 PM. Nice sunset with “surprise” rogue Cumulonimbus located NW of Sells. Nice little virga patch hanging down from some Altocumulus next to it. Did not expect a Cb in that direction at the end of the day. Bodes well for today; having Cbs that are a little closer to us.

6:46 PM. Totally clear skies, moon intact, S-SW, though. Stratified smog layer is at bottom. Smog was much less yesterday than feared it would be after the afternoon invasion of the day before. — 6:46 PM. The sky was completely clear, however, moon intact, S-SW. Note stratified smog layer at the bottom.

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Our desert greening seems to be reaching its peak now, and so it would be nice for you to get out and see it before football day on Saturday and it could start to wilt that bit under our drier conditions. Just after sunrise, and just before sunset, there is some great lighting on our weedy summer desert vegetation.

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The weather ahead….

Canadians¹ think the tropical air will hang around SE Arizona for a few more days, with the chances of rain actually increasing that bit on Saturday. The US WRF-GFS model is not quite so generous with precip here, so we will ignore that one. But, in any event, we should have pretty Cumulus, and distant Cumulonimbus clouds for a few more days before The End, after which we have to wait for a hurricane/tropical storm to roar up the coast of Baja and across Yuma to get any real rain.

In the meantime, I am wondering whether you have taken that trip I suggested to SE Arizona to see the vegetation explosion resulting from this summer’s extraordinary rains they’ve gotten down there? Douglas, for example, has just crossed over the 16 inches mark for this summer a couple of days ago, the wettest summer of the past 100 years down that way. The summer desert vegetation down there must be extraordinary, too, and it would really be worth seeing. I will get down there for sure!

It has continued to rain extraordinary amounts of rain in western Arizona. Here is a depiction of just the past seven days ending yesterday morning (today’s image is not out yet). Its a great sight, considering our “extreme” and “exceptional” drought designations over that way.

Seven day radar-derived precipitation totals for the US ending yesterday at 5 AM AST. Just look at how Arizona overall has fared during this period. Amazing. Should make a good dent in our drought conditions. And the generous rains in droughty NM are foretold to continue, good news indeed. (BTW, the excessive precip around Salt Lake City is bogus, due to an error.) There are holes in mountainous areas due to blocked radar beams, so this map under represents the rain that actually occurred. Need more radars!

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¹The writer exhibits bias here due to his precipophilic personality combined with having most of his relatives living in Canada. Also, the cruder Canadian model with its larger grid sizes tends to smooth out precip over larger areas than the US WRF-GFS model shown here.

The trace

We had a trace yesterday in SH. There was not ONE but TWO periods of rain, the first at 1236 to 1237, and the second from 1240 to 1240:30, both from the same cloud, but likely from different turrets protruding above the base. The drops were very small, barely mm-size, with considerably horizontal separation between them. Likely were from a few ice crystals that rimed up, became soft hail, then melted and evaporated on the way down to those tiny 1-mm sizes.

Here’s the key to recording trace events: First of all, you have to “want it”; have to have the fire in your belly like I do, that a day in which a small amount of rain falls is not getting by you as a zero rain day. In effect, you have to have a linebacker’s mentality. Be out there when it might happen, park your car outside overnight after cleaning the front and back windows before nightfall. Dust on it is especially good.

Now for yesterday and what happened, presented in detail so that you can improve your trace measuring skill set:

12:36 PM. Isolated drops falling, there's one over there, and I thought I felt one, arms extended. But cloud is slipping slightly to east of me! No shaft coming out! — 12:36 PM. Isolated drops falling, there’s one over there, and I thought I felt one, arms extended. But cloud is slipping slightly to east of me! No shaft coming out! But great looking cloud bottom. Will go into that collection.

12:35 PM. Just before first drops felt. — 12:40 PM. Another surge of little drops, can hear them on porch roof! Bottom not looking as generous as a couple of minutes ago.

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Now, for that smog bank that moved in during the afternoon….THAT was a horrible sight, and kind of ruined the late afternoon sky views. The deep blue seen in the first shot was replaced by this whitish, hazy look, lots of “crepsucular” rays, in fact the whole sky got a bit “suckulent”, to misspell another word with purpose…. Take a look:

Likely will have the same stuff today. Origin? Well, seems to be coming out of the southwest and Mexico, but also may be old southern Cal smog. Here’s the GOES aerosol optical depth (AOD) image for later yesterday afternoon, 3:15 PM.

GOES AOD for 3:15 PM. Be glad you're not in Bakersfield, CA! But note some smog over and to the SW of Tucson heading this way. — GOES AOD for 3:15 PM. Be glad you’re not in Bakersfield, CA! But note some smog over and to the SW of Tucson heading this way around low in central AZ. Colored regions denote smog; blue small amounts, orange and red, ugh, gimmee a handkerchief! Can’t measure AOD if too many clouds are present.

Today? Some smog, some pretty-but-dirty Cumulus clouds (ones with extra high droplet concentrations, likely darker bases than they really should have due to the “dirt” inside’em), and not much more. Maybe a Cumulonimbus off on the horizon somewhere.

Better late than never; night storms dump 1.42 inches on Sam Ridge!

If you were awakened last night by thunder, as I was, but then that bit disappointed that not a lot of rain fell, well it did, just not here. In three hours, in the epicenter of those storms, Samaniego Peak got a whopping 1.42 inches, by far the most around, bringing the 24 h total there to a magnificent 1.93 inches. Here in “The Heights”, we only got a tenth last night, with the 24 h total ending at 7 AM, of just 0.19 inches, thanks to about a tenth yesterday morning. You can see more precip data here from the Pima County ALERT gages, along with the other sites such as Rainlog.org and CoCoRahs.

The “tropical river” of moisture from the Tropics is shifting east, and soon we’ll be in the “dry wash” of the westerly flow from the Pacific, too soon really, with a very small chance of storms. Today is the last day of the larger ones, ones with a greater chance of landing on Catalina. After today, we’ll likely just see them off in the distance.

There were some fabulous scenes yesterday, even in the overcast morning rains, followed by those low Stratocumulus and Stratus fractus clouds lining the Catalinas. Here are a few, well, too many again:

7:56 AM. You may wonder why I am posting this shot. Well, its a sky we don't see often here, that dark, rainy look, Stratus fractus creeping along the Catalina Mountains. I thought it was pretty neat. Wouldn't if I still lived in SEA; would be same old same old as they say. But here! Fabulous. — 7:56 AM. You may wonder why I am posting this shot. Well, its a sky we don’t see often here, that dark, rainy look associated with Nimbostratus (the amorphous cloud above the darker ragged Altocumulus.Stratocumulus clouds in the center). Stratus fractus is creeping along the Catalina Mountains. I thought it was pretty neat scene. Wouldn’t if I still lived in SEA; would be same old same old as they say. But here in Catalina? Fabulous.

9:25 AM. While the little rain storm had ended, those low Stratocumulus (too bumpy to be Stratus) were a delight to see up against the mountains with the light playing on them as holes in the higher Altocumulus deck went by,

10:25 AM. Springtime for fungi. Our recent rains have triggered unusual life forms. Here, a large white disk has emerged from the soil just off ET *Equestrian Trail), encountered while walking the dog. — 10:25 AM. Springtime for fungi. Our recent rains have triggered unusual life forms, probably from Seattle. Here, a large white disk has emerged from the soil just off ET *Equestrian Trail), encountered while walking the dog (Laurie Anderson).

11:40 AM. Wasn't long before a bit of heating launched giant Cumulonimbus, though soft ones, not real powerful ones. Still, a gorgeous sight. — 11:40 AM. Wasn’t long before a bit of heating launched giant Cumulonimbus, though soft ones, not real powerful ones with a lot of lightning. Still, a gorgeous sight. Looking northwest, beyond Saddlebrooke.

12:10 PM. Windshift line marked by a line of Stratocumulus approaches Catalina. This did not seem good. There was no real response to it, just shallow clouds, and the clouds behind it seemed suppressed, suggesting drier air was going to move in. I wonder if you saw this line of clouds? — 12:10 PM. Windshift line marked by a line of Stratocumulus/Cumulus congestus (right) approaches Catalina. This did not seem good. There was no real response to it, just shallow clouds, and the clouds behind it seemed suppressed, suggesting drier air was going to move in. I wonder if you saw this line of clouds? Any cloud line like this should be viewed as one likely associated with a wind shift. It was also approaching pretty fast.

3:10 PM. After being in the gym for awhile, came out to see that drier air had indeed moved in, and these great looking Cumulus congestus clouds were going nowhere. From the "Not taken while driving" collection. I really like not taking pictures while driving. That would crazy to do. — 3:10 PM. After being in the gym for awhile, came out to see that drier air had indeed moved in, and these great looking Cumulus congestus clouds were going nowhere. From the “Not taken while driving” collection. I really like not taking pictures while driving. That would be a crazy thing to do.

4:09 PM. The Cumulus over the Cat Mountains continued to wither under the influence of drier air. Was getting pretty discouraged since little of the daytime rain predicted had occurred by this time.

In fact, the only precipitation I had seen since about 9 AM in the morning was by this cow. "Precipitating Cow", yours for $2,000. — In fact, the only precipitation I had seen since about 9 AM in the morning was by this cow (look closely). “Precipitating Cow”, yours for $2,000.

5:31 PM. Cute little cloud tries to grow up like his surrounding brother and sister clouds. What an effort! (Demonstrates the instability of the layer in which the Cumulus formed.)

6:30 PM. But hope arose again as a line of Cumulonimbus appeared on the horizon before sunset, and grew closer. Because there were several, you could tell it was something organized was yet to come; it was not just an isolated one or two. Note the pileus cap on the highest turret (between the lines) indicating a strong updraft.

6:54 PM. Unzoomed view of the approaching group of Cumulonimbus, our nighttime storms. The shadow radiating from the setting sun was due to a Cumulonimbus top not visible on the horizon at right. Indicative, too, of organization, something that might make it into the night, not just die away, were all the towering Cumulus lined up on the horizon to the left of the big cell in the center. Pretty darn spectacular scene I thought.

Precipitating cow

Wall of Voodoo

Nice lighting

Clouds were so-so yesterday, didn’t deliver the big punch as one U of AZ mod foretold (Samaniego Ridge and vicinity only got a tenth of inch or so compared with the 1-2 inches that was predicted), but, the lighting yesterday morning, oh, my, that lighting on the mountains and elsewhere as little breaks in the overcast Altocumulus/Stratocumulus deck zipped by, were beyond description. Lost control and began snapping photos like a turtle or toad surrounded by little flying somethings that they thought would be great to eat. Here are SOME:

For the day in review go to the U of AZ time lapse movie. Its really pretty interesting, and if you thought it was a dull and disappointing day, at least it will go by fast.

At least we did receive another 0.04 inches here in SH-Catalina over the past 24 h, though it fell at an excruciatingly low rate; didn’t think that little tipping bucket would ever tip for that ONE hundredth amount. Seemed like drops fell for hours before it did. BTW, the forever reminder: it wasn’t drizzle precip, but rain, very light

RAIN!

(This is my legacy; that when I am done, folks say; “You know, I knew that guy. I don’t remember a thing that he said except that drizzle isn’t a few drops here and there, but rather a thick, misty kind of precipitation that floats under your umbrella if there’s much wind. Comes from the coalisions-with-coalescence rain formation process, one that doesn’t require ice, though I don’t know why I would want to remember something like that.”)

Today….

Another fun-filled cloudy day with rain here and there. “Take Me to the River“, as David Byrne wrote, and was covered by the Songs of Science by Bill Nye et al (which I can’t find online, dang), the tropical one. Well, its here, that tropical one, passing right over head and so the POTENTIAL for big rains continues for another day or so. Lots of rain predicted twixt now and midnight by that U of AZ WRF-GFS mod–you can go here and check it out. Of course, it wasn’t so great yesterday, but they’re just too good most of the time to discard and so maybe today and tonight, the errors won’t be so great and we’ll pick up an inch or so hereabouts.

The End.