Mt. Lemmon Is Dry — Image by kenne
The Summer monsoon officially starts today.
However, nature didn’t get the message.
Whether in the desert valley or the mountains
the drought continues to preach the southwest.
Will this monsoon season be another nonsoom?
— kenne
This morning I noticed some echoes on the radar in western Arizona between Phoenix and Blythe. Satellite images confirmed that they are real. So, there HAS been a slight increase in the moisture level in the last 24 hours. The bad news is that it will probably only be enough to set off some isolated T-storms over the mountains with “dry lightning”. – Not good!
Triple-digit temps will continue to increase the chance of rain, but the dewpoint remains very low. We did experience some late afternoon clouds over the mountains, but still too dry. Yesterday the humidity was 3%. You will recall the Big Horn Fire was started by lightning.
Kenne,
I guess there really was some T-storm activity late yesterday (06/15/21) afternoon and evening – the first of the season. It was mostly reported around the Apache Junction area and east of Scottsdale. Rainfall amounts were very light but that didn’t surprise me. However, an isolated heavy downpour cannot be entirely ruled out. Was there any activity over Mount Lemmon?
Everything tends to suggest that moisture levels this morning are slightly higher so I expect more of this this afternoon. Upper level wind forecasts suggest that moisture will continue climbing over the weekend until early next week when a very hot, high-pressure system will become entrenched and cause it to dry out again. But this is still a good start. June is normally the driest month of the year in most of the state except the extreme southeastern border area around Douglas and Bisbee where May is dryer.
…….hope for a moresoon