Atmosphere Comparison

[Jim]

The endless chatter of weather.

[DixieFlyer]

It looks like PHX will have the latest ever 110+ degree day.

[Jim]

@DixieFlyer
I look forward to the day Phoenix finally sees 120+ again. I was always disappointed it didn't happen when I was there. Can it get to 125?

[azbackpackr]

Hurricane Helene. Dang.

[Jim]

Mount Hopkins station reports almost 23 inches (22.87) since the water year began last October 1. https://www.weather.gov/wrh/timeseries? ... 3&hours=72

It started the summer around 12 inches, so about half of that came this summer. I don't know what the mean is for the station, but that is still pretty good both for summer and the year. Not 40 inches good as might fall on Mount Lemmon, but still good.

[RedRoxx44]

We had a good monsoon south of Tucson but I've noticed and others have remarked on a sort of weird happening with some of the plants. Lots of growth but not many blooms. My lantana which usually blooms in the summer heat didn't bloom at all. Same with my mexican red bird of paradise. A few blooms then to seed pods. Flower and vines had good growth near the border but not as prevalent as in the past, and definitely not blooming as much.

[outdoor_lover]

@RedRoxx44 It's possible that it's from too much water. Many plants including cactus tend to bloom better in drier conditions because they feel the need to "reproduce" to survive. If there is too much moisture, the plants are thriving too much and all of their energy is spent on new growth instead of blooms. Don't remember where I read that though.

[RedRoxx44]

It's been a few years for a good monsoon here but when there were waterfalls and such in the canyons near the border I didn't remember noticing this strange plant response. But maybe because the monsoons are so patchy that previously all the rain was "just right".

[chumley]

@RedRoxx44 Perhaps totally unrelated, but on I-25 east of Santa Fe last weekend there were hundreds of vehicles randomly parked on the shoulders (and along the dirt roads on Mt Taylor too) and nothing made any sense why to me. A little research returned that this year has been an exceptional superbloom bumper crop of pinyon pine nuts. Apparently nuts are regularly harvested at this time of year, but 2024 has presented a crop unlike any that the folks there can remember. The socials have influenced people who have never foraged before to head into the forest (or park on interstates) to gather this years plentiful haul. So it seems like something different happened with pinyon this year too. (I have not seen the same activity in pinyon country here in Arizona).

[big_load]

@RedRoxx44 Perhaps totally unrelated, but on I-25 east of Santa Fe last weekend there were hundreds of vehicles randomly parked on the shoulders (and along the dirt roads on Mt Taylor too) and nothing made any sense why to me. A little research returned that this year has been an exceptional superbloom bumper crop of pinyon pine nuts. Apparently nuts are regularly harvested at this time of year, but 2024 has presented a crop unlike any that the folks there can remember. The socials have influenced people who have never foraged before to head into the forest (or park on interstates) to gather this years plentiful haul. So it seems like something different happened with pinyon this year too. (I have not seen the same activity in pinyon country here in Arizona).

Oh no! Our devices have turned us into squirrels.

[LindaAnn]

@chumley
This is why nobody is hiking in AZ—they’re all out harvesting nuts.

Funny you mention it, because a large percentage of my social feeds the last two weeks have been all about these pinyon nuts.

[chumley]

Monsoon 24 recap. (June 15 to Sept 30).
Generally near average to below average statewide.

[chumley]

The Phoenix monsoon details.

[chumley]

The Tucson monsoon details.

[chumley]

Flagstaff monsoon details

[big_load]

Yikes! AZ is still getting dryer.

[chumley]

Monsoon rain totals are tough to track because of the highly variable amounts from one locale to another. What happens at the airport is not always a good indicator of what happened around the valley. This graph shows the average rainfall across all the gauges in the Maricopa County Flood Control District network. This average was nearly double the airport reading, but still well below the normal average of these gauges.

[chumley]

Insanity has become so routine it almost doesn't even register anymore. But just for fun I looked up what would be "normal".

The average high temp for 10/9 at PHX is 92. The average low temp is 69. Seems almost pleasant when you read about it.

But instead, today was the 16th consecutive day where the all-time record high temperature was met or exceeded, and it looks like it could continue for as many as 5 more days. That's literally difficult to comprehend.

For perspective, the last time that PHX recorded a high temperature of "only" 92 Jimmy Carter was the president.
(Some statisticians challenge the accuracy of that last statement).

[Jim]

I do wonder how hot it gets in places like Phoenix and Marana, in the future. Does it finally start to routinely break over 120 in summer and sometimes top 125? I would hate to return to Pima County in a few years only to want to leave after a summer or two. At least the air is generally pretty good outside of the Valley.

[RedRoxx44]

"They" say if we paint all our roofs a bright white reflective paint it will lower the temperature significantly. With all that heat reflected back into the lower atmosphere what is that going to do??? Most solutions seem to create other problems, maybe minor or maybe major. Oh well. still waiting for the asteroid. or zombies ( watching too many korean zombie shows on netflix).

[Grimey]

My gosh... Phoenix has only "officially" hit 120 3 times, the last time was in 1995 - almost 30 years ago. I seriously doubt 120 will become "routine" any time soon. And 125?!?!