We’ve waited a LONG time for a rain day. It was so nice, so photogenic as well. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Also, you may have seen the Froude Number1 in action as Cumulus congestus and Cumulonimbus clouds developed and went around the sides of the Catalina Mountains instead of developing over them and dumping big shafts of rain on them. The heaviest rains yesterday were due to streamers of showers and with an OCNL TSTMS that were north and south of us, Oracleville, Bio2 area, and Marana, Avra Valley where over half an inch was logged in some places.
Still , we managed a third of an inch here in Sutherland Heights, the first appreciable rain since I don’t know when, though, I could look it up. Too long, though, even for Catalina.
Some regional totals, 3 AM to 3 AM:
Precipitation Report for the following time periods ending at: 03:19:00 11/04/16
Data is preliminary and unedited.
—- indicates missing data
Gauge 24 Name Location
ID# minutes hour hours hours hours
—- —- —- —- —- —- —————– ———————
Catalina Area
1010 0.08 Golder Ranch Horseshoe Bend Rd in Saddlebrooke
1020 0.12 Oracle Ranger Stati approximately 0.5 mi SW of Oracle
1040 0.08 Dodge Tank Edwin Rd 1.3 mi E of Lago Del Oro Parkway
1050 0.16 Cherry Spring approximately 1.5 mi W of Charouleau Gap
1060 0.16 Pig Spring approximately 1.1 mi NE of Charouleau Gap
1070 0.24 Cargodera Canyon NE corner of Catalina State Park
1080 0.20 CDO @ Rancho Solano Cañada Del Oro Wash NE of Saddlebrooke
1100 0.16 CDO @ Golder Rd Cañada Del Oro Wash at Golder Ranch Rd
Santa Catalina Mountains
1030 0.04 Oracle Ridge Oracle Ridge, approximately 1.5 mi N of Rice Peak
1090 0.16 Mt. Lemmon Mount Lemmon
1110 0.16 CDO @ Coronado Camp Cañada Del Oro Wash 0.3 mi S of Coronado Camp
1130 0.28 Samaniego Peak Samaniego Peak on Samaniego Ridge
1140 0.08 Dan Saddle Dan Saddle on Oracle Ridge
2150 0.16 White Tail Catalina Hwy 0.8 mi W of Palisade Ranger Station
2280 0.04 Green Mountain Green Mountain
2290 0.16 Marshall Gulch Sabino Creek 0.6 mi SSE of Marshall Gulch
Santa Catalina Foothills
2090 0.04 TV @ Guest Ranch Tanque Verde Wash at Tanque Verde Guest Ranch
2100 0.16 DEQ Swan Swan Rd at Calle del Pantera
2160 0.08 Sabino @ USFS Dam Sabino Creek at USFS Dam
2170 0.24 Ventana @ Sunrise Ventana Canyon Wash at Sunrise Rd
2190 0.16 Al-Marah near El Marah on Bear Canyon Rd
2200 0.04 AC Wash @ TV Bridge Agua Caliente Wash at Tanque Verde Rd
2210 0.00 Catalina Boosters Houghton Road 0.1 mi S of Catalina Highway
2220 0.04 Agua Caliente Park Agua Caliente Park
2230 0.04 El Camino Rinconado El Camino Rinconado 0.5 mi N of Reddington Rd
2240 0.04 Molino Canyon Mt Lemmon Highway near Mile Post 3
2390 0.24 Finger Rock @ Skyli Finger Rock Wash at Sunrise Rd
Yesterday’s Clouds
![6:50 AM. "Shape of things to come."](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9095-1024x683.jpg)
![DSC_9096](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9096-1024x683.jpg)
![11:37 AM. Sure enough, as it got warmer, Cumulus congestus/small Cumulonimbus clouds arose trailing ice northwestward in huge plumes of ice. Note to airborne researchers: be sure to sample the older parts of the turrets that have trailed downwind and turned completely to ice even though that trailing portion doesn't look much like a Cumulus cloud. It you only sample the newly risen portions, you will cheat the cloud out of how much ice it can produce since it takes a little time for all the ice to form. Lotta early airborne researchers made this error, reporting too little ice, but, of course, if they were in the cloud seeding business, they wouldn't mind at all since they could report that clouds needed more ice, that from their seeding activities!](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9098-1024x683.jpg)
![11:37 AM. Oh, so pretty, those dark blue skies punctuated by a little muffin Cumulus cloud. Aren't you glad you live here?](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9101-1024x683.jpg)
![1:25 PM. Showers and small Cumulonimbus clouds trail off the Catalinas north of Bio2.](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9114-1024x683.jpg)
![1:25 PM. Showers track westward south of Catalina while the clouds over the Catalinas dissipate or remain disorganized while heading toward us.](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9115-1024x683.jpg)
![2:33 PM. A voluptous Cumulus congestus in the process of transitioning to a Cumulonimbus calvus (ice is visible but top stil pretty firm and round looking), then Cumulonimbus capillatus (fibrous top)](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9136-1024x683.jpg)
![2:46 PM. Moving rapidly away from Catalina, of course, that cloud has now become a Cumulonimbus capillatus (hairy, fibrous top a,most completely composed of ice--some liquid)](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9152-1024x683.jpg)
![2:48 PM. In the meantime, pretty strong storms, now having thunder, rage S through W of Catalina.](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9159-1024x683.jpg)
![3:14 PM. While we didn't have any great clouds near us, at least we had some nice lighting (not LTG) on the mountains from time to time.](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9176-1024x683.jpg)
![3:41 PM. Finally, the dramatic skies were shifting northward and measurable rain was on the doorstep. Looking SW toward Pusch Ridge and the Tucson Mountains.](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9178-1024x683.jpg)
![4:43 PM. Took awhile, but a decent Cumulus with a nice base now transitioning into a Cumulonimbus plopped some big drops and hail down. Streak at right is a hail particle with its fall distance in about 1/400 of a second.](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9218-683x1024.jpg)
![DSC_9220](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9220-1024x683.jpg)
![5:02 PM. While the sunset was dramatic, it didn't bring the color hoped for, but this line of dark clouds presaged another bit of rain for Catalina.](https://cloud-maven.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/DSC_9228-1024x683.jpg)
Except for a morning or afternoon sprinkle, no rain in sight, just a warm up back to above average temperatures. Dang.
The End
———————-
1The young fluid dynamicist, Richard Penniman, fascinated by the flow around mountains, and who later became known as the rock and R&B entertainer, “Little Richard”, first brought the Froude Number to public attention in his song, “Tutti Froude-e.” The title, after an early release failed to capture the public’s imagination, was later revised for greater “accessibility”, to the song we know today as, “Tutti Frutti.”
2Who can forget “Max and the Storm Troopers” and that great song? I would submit, “everyone.” Of course, few know that after 1968 they changed their name to “Led Zeppelin.” And that, my friends, is “the rest of the story”, as Paul Harvey might say if he was lying about something anyway.