Surf’s up; dewpoints up

Surf along the Baja coast, that is, and dewpoints here.  Whopping 67 F in TUS, 73 F in Nogales right now.  Cat 3 Hurricane Norbert’s is creeping up the Baja coast as of this hour with SUSTAINED winds of 120 mph, pretty far north for that kind of intensity.

Norbert’s peripheral circulation is working its way into Arizona at last.  Things aren’t so great upstairs on top of that moisture coming in down low, and so we can’t expect a LOT of showers around today, but more than yesterday, which was almost none.  Things gradually improve up top tomorrow and the next day, and so more grouping of showers is expected.  Norbert is still forecast by the USA! WRF-GFS model to pass over San Diego on its way across northern Arizona.  It will go from a “lion” to a little kitty” by the time it reaches SAN and then it will be just a muddle of clouds trekking across northern Arizona after that.

The important thing about Norbert is the drought-relieving rains it will bring to much of the Southwest.  Norbert and its remains will affect Arizona for a few days, then nothin’ after that.  So, hoping we can get a few inches of rain out of this situation somewhere in Arizona before it clears out during the middle of next week.

Yesterday’s clouds

10:22 AM. Got really excited when I saw this happen, that extruding top! What a great sign for a few good Cumulonimbi!
10:22 AM. Got really excited when I saw this happen, that extruding top from the raggedy Andy mass below! What a great sign for a few good Cumulonimbi, but not too many since it had dried out overnight!

 

12:01 PM. Cumulus congestus clouds continued to mass on top of Ms. Lemmon, but the expected explosion into a big Cumulonimbus had not yet occurred, somewhat surprisingly.
12:01 PM. Cumulus congestus clouds continued to mass on top of Ms. Lemmon, but the expected explosion into a big Cumulonimbus had not yet occurred, somewhat surprisingly.

 

12:19 PM. First ice! Can you find it? Looks like things are beginning to boil now, big Cb moments away, ("Not", as it turned out.
12:19 PM. First ice! Can you find it? Looks like things are beginning to boil now, big Cb moments away, (“Not”, as it turned out.)
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1:05 PM. Another good sign was Cumulus congestus building over there toward Saddlebrooke Ranch and the valley areas. Looked like they, too, were ready to group and explode. Such a pretty scene.

 

1:32 PM. Things are getting "muddled." Instead of nice firm cloud bases, we have kind of a mess. No Cumulus eruption is going to come out of this. At this time, you and me were just looking around to see if any tops had gotten cold enough to form some ice for at least a light rain shower on the mountains. Didn't see any here.
1:32 PM. Things are getting “muddled.” Instead of nice firm cloud bases, we have kind of a mess. No Cumulus eruption is going to come out of this. At this time, you and me were just looking around to see if any tops had gotten cold enough to form some ice for at least a light rain shower on the mountains. Didn’t see any here.

 

6:08 PM. While some heavy Cumulus and a couple of Cumulonimbus clouds were sighted well to the SW of us, the clouds here withered as it got drier during the day. You see, even though it was moist below, when Cumulus turrets begin shooting up, there must be (gradually) subsiding air to take the place of the air that shot upwards. So, the extremely dry air just above the tops of our Cumulus was sinking down and dessicating the air from which the Cumulus arose from. Oh, well. More moist up top today..... Won't be quite so bad in helping to eradicate our Cu.
6:08 PM. While some heavy Cumulus and a couple of Cumulonimbus clouds were sighted well to the SW of us, the clouds here withered as it got drier during the day. You see, even though it was moist below, when Cumulus turrets begin shooting up, there must be (gradually) subsiding air to take the place of the air that shot upwards. So, the extremely dry air just above the tops of our Cumulus was sinking down and dessicating the air from which the Cumulus arose from. Oh, well. More moist up top today….. Won’t be quite so bad in helping to eradicate our Cu.
6:45 PM. Cirrus spissatus cumulonimbogenitus makes for a pretty sunset, as do those distant Cumulus towers as Norbert's moisture begins to show up aloft.
6:45 PM. Cirrus spissatus cumulonimbogenitus (there’s a mouthful!) makes for a pretty sunset, as do those distant Cumulus towers as Norbert’s moisture begins to show up aloft.

The End

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.