ronhoon's Blog

Like a lot of people in Arizona, I've been wondering the last few years, "Where'd the monsoon go?"  Last year's monsoon rainfall total of about a half an inch at the airport, had me thinking maybe we should just quit talking about "the rainy season."

Well, it's back, and with a vengeance, this year.  The airport has logged over 3 inches, and other measuring locations around the Valley have seen bigger numbers.  While it's not enough to pull us out of the drought, we are headed in the right direction.  Did you know that our rainfall total this year is already around 6 inches?  So now, we're approaching our average for a full year of a little over 7 inches.  At the current rate, we could top that number with the next good storm!

I know lots of folks don't like the humidity in Arizona.  I mean if it was that way year round, we might as well live in Louisiana or Mississippi.  The dry weather will be here soon enough...using the new criteria from the weather service, somewhere around September 15th.  And, as opposed to other cities that seem to deal with a lot more rain on a much more regular basis, every time we get a good soaking, it seems to cause havoc at Sky Harbor. 

Still, it's worth it, to keep the desert blooming and the mountains green.  I got caught in a rainstorm this week in Payson, and the temp dropped to 68 degrees in the middle of the afternoon!  An hour later, I was back in the Valley at 100!

So, let's hear it for a monsoon that's finally not wimpy.  Who knows when we'll get another one?