Atmosphere Comparison

[Jim]

The endless chatter of weather.

[JimmyLyding]

It seems as if SoCal got big periodic big storms while here in the Bay Area we saw storms roll in one after another for about 3 months. However, the rain here isn't that intense, but the rain gently falls for hours and hours. My 2011 hiking mileage totals are way down because it seemingly rained every weekend in January and early February. It rained a little bit today, and the Sierras around Lake Tahoe are getting a little bit of snow. I've been told that this was a pretty wet winter, but not freakishly so. Those Pineapple Express storms were pretty epic, however. A typical Pineapple Express storm caused rain for something like 18 hours a day for an entire week.

[chumley]

Jim- Congratulations on the 1500th reply to this thread!

[azbackpackr]

Jim- Congratulations on the 1500th reply to this thread!

Looks like we have a slight chance of showers here on the weekend. I have to say I am really relieved it seems to be Springtime in earnest now, even if it is pretty breezy at times. Jim may complain about it, but he has no reason to. ;) I, on the other hand, have to drive a 40-foot-long 72 passenger school bus on I-40 every afternoon to Winona. The bus is like a sail, and it's downwind to Winona, but I am on a starboard tack all the way back to Flag. It really hasn't been scary yet, but the other day I had a headwind, and I put pedal to the metal and it would not go any faster than 60 mph. It has a governor on it, so I usually go 65, which is its top speed.

You ought to see Amarillo
Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona,
Don't forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow and San Bernadino.

If you get hip to this kind of tip
and take a little California trip,
Get your kicks on route 66!

[Jim]

Jim, I think that is part of why SoCal has he reputation for it's weather that it does. Except during the extended pineapple system this past December, it always seems that the storms come in and drop a good amount of rain from a moist tap, and then quickly move inland towards us while the skies clear and nice weather quickly returns. Sometimes, it doesn't even look cloudy until just before the rain gets there.

1500 replies. Yup, it's #1. Like my vertical feet hiked since moving to AZ and joining HAZ, I won't be happy until we hit 1,000,000 replies.


It has been windy this spring, but it doesn't seem as bad as last year. I really haven't been complaining about it, either. In fact, I was far more annoyed by the helicopters and airplanes buzzing me on the summit of Capitol Butte, in Sedona on Sunday, than I was the wind while up there. Back when I had that job, I drove the delivery truck to Page just about every Tuesday. The only time I ran out of fuel was one really windy day when I had a head wind the entire way back to Flag. I was doing OK by the diesel gauge until I got to Cameron, and should have stopped for fuel, but being so close and not wanting to stop, I thought I could make it back. Anyway, the wind was really strong climbing up towards the pass on 89 and I ran out just before the summit. On that day, there were times i had the pedal all the way down and was struggling to make 45 or 50 MPH. It was really bad in the Little Colorado R.V., as it always seems to be.

Rain would be nice this weekend. Closer to 1/2 inch in Flag would be really good. My guess, though, is if we get anything, it will be around 1/10th.

[writelots]

I vote rain for AZ this weekend, but a nice, sunny, dry, mildly-breezy weekend for NM. It's only April and I'm already fed up with lousy weather on my backpacking trips!

[Nighthiker]

Please no rain until I finish a cycling event on sat.

[Jim]

No real rain to speak of over the weekend, but the wind has really gotten going over the last week. On the plus side, the recent warm temps during the day and at night (not below 32 most nights) have started some of the plants on spring growth. Pines are beginning to candle up here, oak buds are swelling, and the mountain mahogany leaves are coming out. We're supposed to get cold again at night soon, so we'll see how well things progress.

[azbackpackr]

You mean, it hasn't been cold at night? Then why, when I have to leave for work at 6 a.m., do I find myself wearing exactly the same clothes I was wearing in January? Brrr!

[Jim]

Well, cold is relative. It has been below freezing some nights, but it is milder than it was in January, or on the 10th when we had that really cold low of 7 degrees. Flag's average last 32 degree night is in early June, so it can be "cold" well into June. Then again, myself and someone who left here last July used to discuss how we found displeasure with Flagstaff being cold, or chilly just about the entire year. Even during the mildest time of year, mid to late June and monsoon season, we still drop off pretty fast as the sun falls low on the horizon. A rare 90 degree day can be down in the mid-60s just after sunset and in the low 40s or even the 30s the next morning. Flag is no town for people who enjoy mild or warm temps, or for BBQing after sunset, as we used to do.

[hippiepunkpirate]

@Jim_H
60 degree temps are just fine for BBQing! At least if you have any huevos ;)

[Jim]

Call me old fashioned, but after dark, when it is 60 and windy as it was on the evening I recall from last July, it's pretty chilly to be BBQing in shorts and a T-shirt. The wind is probably what really made it chilly that evening. I remember not hanging around outside at all if I wasn't tending to the grill. It actually may have been in the 50s, but that was 9 months ago.

[hippiepunkpirate]

Call me old fashioned

You're old fashioned

[Jim]

I am...

Not sure what, if anything this can mean at this point, but UofA(*) indicates we will probably have a neutral 2012 winter (or fall 2011 at least ).
http://www.climas.arizona.edu/swco/feb2 ... d-forecast

[big_load]

We just had a hard cutover from highs in the mid-40's to highs near 80. We skipped spring altogether. After a couple weeks of daily rains, the buds are bursting at lower elevations. It will still be another week or two until my cherry tree blooms, though. I'm ready for some dry air and sunshine.

[chumley]

...but ASU indicates....

It's blasphemy to follow this statement with a link to uofa.

[PaleoRob]

Sprinkled up here the other night. Otherwise just a normal windy spring day in Page.

[Jim]

...but ASU indicates....

It's blasphemy to follow this statement with a link to uofa.

Don't know how I missed that one. I fixed it.

[Jim]

Man, it's cold around here. Is it May 1st tomorrow? I think it's February 1st. The high was 48, and it's forecast to be 20 tonight. I didn't even do Elden. The forecast for up there today & tomorrow is 32. Already missing Tucson.

BTW way, it was windy in Tucson, but it was more of a refreshing wind, not the cold bitter wind we get in Flag. I met another complainer, too. He wasn't a fan of the wind in Tucson, but I didn't get into a session with him on Flagstaff''s wind.

[azbackpackr]

There's wind in Tucson? Funny, I had forgotten about that, even though I lived there 13 years, because the wind in Springerville makes Tucson's desert breezes seem mild. Springerville actually made it onto Jeopardy one time as America's windiest city. Which is also a joke, since there are places on the plains that are windy year-round, and Springerville is only really bad in the springtime.

Flagstaff is breezy in town, but really only regularly very windy out in Doney Park and other grassland areas. However my porch furniture here in town did blow over last week, along with the potted palm my roommate put out there.

[chumley]

Been enjoying the cooler weather recently, though I must admit, it was both very chilly and very windy at the Grand Canyon Thursday. Still some impressive snow drifts on the north rim too, though the melt is definitely on. Had an unexpected stop at FMC in Flag for a few hours Thursday night, and I was positively freezing (though shorts and flip flops were probably not the appropriate attire). But here in the valley, temps in the 80s at this time of year are tough to beat. I did get in the pool yesterday for the first time this year, and I'm thinking I might wait a couple of more weeks before attempting that again. Looks like it's gonna approach 100 again this week though.