The other night my wife and I went out for dinner. When we came out and got in the car we could see impressive lightning strikes to the west, accompanied by dark funnel clouds descending over the White Tank Mountains. When we got out on the road we could see that same strong storm activity to the north and to the east of us. And yet, we didn't have a single drop of rain touch our windshield.
This year's monsoon season has been as strange as Bruce Jenner's wardrobe. A few weeks ago, just to the west of us, the little town of Wickenburg had a "hundred year flood"...and we didn't get a drop of rain over our way. Last week was the same. As we were bone dry in Sun City and Surprise, folks over in Scottsdale were drowning, their cars doing the dog paddle down the East 101 freeway. On Friday I drove over to Safeway. The wind was blowing forcefully, shingles on roofs were flying about like frisbees, but we didn't get enough rain to fill a shot glass!
So, as we drove home, I looked about, west, north, south and east, and torrential rains and gale force winds were having a party up in Cave Creek, over in Scottsdale, in Tempe....and we were driving along a highway in calm seas just a few miles from those storms!
The next morning I opened up my morning paper and looked at pics of trees fallen in long impressive rows over on the East side. The electric company says 14,000 people are without power due to the storm bringing down power lines. And we are still sitting here high and dry! Amazing!
Arizona's monsoon has now eclipsed the awe that we once felt about the weather when we lived in Hawaii. In Hawaii you could stand on one side of the street, the sun shining and not a drop of rain, and the other side of the street would be drenched in a downpour, an impressive stream of water flowing down the street gutters. But an Arizona storm is absolutely freaky....it'll level a house with a microburst, fill a whole neighborhood with a foot of water, and the other side of town will be sunny and dry and leaving one to say "what storm?"
Monsoon season in Arizona ends every year around the 15th of September. We won't miss it. "Monsoon, we hardly knew ye".
2 comments:
"been as strange as Bruce Jenner's wardrobe". This great bit on the phenomenal storms of the Arizona deserts and what does this numb skull pick up on? That had me laughing for a while, thanks. I'll probably repeat it too. Haven't stopped coming here, just the subjects here, just like anywhere, are so depressing. I love reading articles like yours today. They're rare anymore, a pleasant moment away from the end days of the USA.
We've had two more freak monsoons since I wrote this, Ken. Power was out for over 70,000 people for three days. That must have been fun in 107 degree weather, huh? The city was delivering free ice around the areas hardest hit.
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