Monsoons

You can't live in Arizona and not hear about "monsoons". People talk about them like they are some mysterious, alien that blows in for 3-4 months and then blows out until the next year. You can't really appreciate rain until you don't see a single drop for months! Then magic happens and it rains daily, or at least every few days for weeks along with thunder, lightening, high wind and flooding - just like in midwest. You don't just wake up one day and wonder if it is monsoon season. The TV stations, radio stations and news papers track them and there is not doubt when they have arrived - that's all you hear on the news. They have officially arrived when the dew point (whatever that is) had been 54 (something) for 3 consecutive days. This monsoon season was expecially wet as the usual rain fall is about 6.5 inches and we got 10.5 inches at the airport. Now, parts of town got several more inches but the airport measurement is all that matters... Since the rain is only for a few months a year, they don't build roads, etc for rain run-off with culverts, etc. The roads just have a dip in them and become impassable during the rain. Flooded streets around here are serious business. Rose Hill Wash runs through the golf course behind our house and normally just an low spot with a dry creek bed in areas. However, 2 days after we moved in there was a big rain and the dry, low spot became a raging river in just a matter of minutes. This picture was taken from our patio. The rain stops and within an hour the wash is dry again. The monsoons in southern Arizona is one of the seasons like spring or winter is in other places. Sure beats snow....