Stormy weather; 0.42 inches so far

Three thunderstorms with rain here, one overnight, have dumped 0.42 inches here in SH (Sutherland Heights)  More is virtually certain.  1.18 inches fell at Horseshoe Bend Road in Saddlebrooke.  More reports here and here and here and here, to name a few.  Can’t wait for daylight to see how the desert looks.

What an interesting day, beginning with the odd scene of an Altocumulus lenticularis overhead, telling us the wind was substantial and from the east or southeast.  Usually you see this cloud in the cool half of the year on the other side of the Catalinas, but there it was, filled with mystery and lightning!

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6:21 AM. Kind of a Ac lenticularis overhead, due to east to southeast winds over the Cat Mountains. What would those winds mean? Forming side of cloud is at the bottom of the photo, bright white area, or toward the east.. After all, that puts us in the downwind/downslope side of the moiuntains. Could showers still develop over the Catalinas and drift toward us without falling apart as they often due?  Yes.
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12:54 PM. After a grueling drive deep into Tucson, I came home to Catland to find pounding rain, both along Oracle Road at Rancho, and here on ET (Equestrian Trail). Drops, though falling from about 10, 000 feet above us were pretty huge, as you can see. Note, another photo in the collection, “Not taken while driving”, Price, $1,200.  The tilt lends an aire of excitement, perhaps danger.

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1:54 PM. From the cloud bottoms collection, this. Just about everyone fulfilled its promise by having a
1:54 PM. From the cloud bottoms collection, a photopgraphic niche of mine, this overhead view just before Saddlebrooke got dumped on. Just about every wide cloud bottom fulfilled its promise by releasing rain yesterday, even some pretty small ones. I thought this shot was exceptional. Price, $1,500.  Would look great on somebody’s wall;  great texture!

 

2:03 PM. Drops away!
2:03 PM. Drops away!

 

2:06 PM, just three minutes later! Saddlebrooke about to be pounded. Look for golf balls in the CDO.
2:06 PM, just three minutes later! Saddlebrooke about to be pounded. Look for golf balls in the CDO.

 

6:06 PM. Then after a long break in the action, kind of like halftime at a fubball game, those magnificent Cumulus began to reform, climb up once again to levels where they could form ice and rain. I thought this sight was reel perty. Took many photos of the same thing, that's the way it is with photographers.
6:06 PM. Then after a long break in the action, kind of like halftime at a fubball game, those magnificent Cumulus began to reform, climb up once again to levels where they could form ice and rain. I thought this sight was reel perty. Took many photos of the same thing, that’s the way it is with photographers.

“Little Swirl”, a cyclonic eddy really, but could be somebody’s name, too,   to SE moving NW and over us this morning:  Look here.  Will help keep showers going today, but also check with the real experts.  Must quit here as time expires for big bandwidth flow.

 

By Art Rangno

Retiree from a group specializing in airborne measurements of clouds and aerosols at the University of Washington (Cloud and Aerosol Research Group). The projects in which I participated were in many countries; from the Arctic to Brazil, from the Marshall Islands to South Africa.