HikeArizona.COM

The endless chatter of weather.

Ouch, hail is not good...My work truck still hasn't been repaired from the hail we had here this summer. Still looks like it's been through a war. But it does mean that the air aloft is colder.....I guess the next week or so, we are supposed to get into a stormy pattern, just get the 100 degree temps outta here. It's hard to work in it all day and then try to play in it too...

Must have been. I got some photos of a huge thunderhead building over the Peaks as I was leaving town at noon. I guess it turned into a big storm.

Rather than post in my dead Lavender Peak calendar thread, since that one appears to have contracted plague, I'll post here. Anyone notice that a cold front and storm is coming later in the week. I may not be able to do Lavender Peak, or might do it later in the month. If it is heavy enough, it will shut down the higher peaks of CO, possibly for the season. Got to say, that is part of what makes AZ a lot nicer.

Check out this forecast map:

Great....the rain's getting ready to start here in the Bay Area....

While I'd be happy to see some rain, I am much more excited about the high temperatures in the valley falling into the 70s by week's end! :FG:

I would expect the possibility of some widespread freezing temps at the higher elevations too.

Was hoping for another return to the Mogollon Rim later in the month for a week day camping trip. Set up the popup camper for a base camp and hike and some mtn. biking.

While there's snow showers in the forecast for elevations above 6500 feet, there should be no reason that you can't still camp on the rim at least into November.

First snow the official folks up there like to close gates, my bolt cutters are getting a little dull.

If you are looking at my map link posted above, you can see the precip forecast has gone up a lot. Over 2 inches in the San Juans, which if snow above 12,000', pretty much shuts me down until a decent pack builds up and stabilizes. It couldn't have waited 1 week?

Nighthiker wrote:First snow the official folks up there like to close gates, my bolt cutters are getting a little dull.

That's not my experience at all. I get a Christmas-tree cutting permit every year, and there have been quite a few where there was more than a foot of snow and none of the gates were closed. Plenty of stuck trucks too. They also go out of their way to allow access as long as possible while some of the fall hunts are still open.

In the spring, they often wait a long time to open, but that's because the snowmelt makes the roads really muddy and susceptible to erosion and damage.

As far as I know (though there must be others), only the road to the North Rim from Jacob's Lake operates on a seasonal closure based on calendar dates rather than actual conditions.

Oh ... and it's not as if you can't camp up there when the roads are closed: http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=81484

big_load wrote:

big_load wrote:Nothing but more rain, rain, rain here. Local flooding today was worse than during the hurricanes, but it hasn't hit the bigger rivers yet. I can't wait to head west and see the sun.

Whoa, we got 4" today. I knew it was a lot, but not that much. Adding to the total through the 26th, that gives us 57.5" so far this year (at Newton). That's a lot, especially since the excess all came in August and September.

We only got 5.73" last week, so we're at 59.27" for the year, 0.61" from the annual record with three months to go. The average precipitation in those three months is 8.15". That's about 10" more than most of the rest of the state, mainly because Hurricane Lee hit mainly in the west and the current nor'easter's stronger bands are all to the west.

Things are seriously out of whack because of all the rain. Trees are dropping their leaves while still green. Sheets of water flow continuously out of the ground all over the place. Houses on mountainsides had flood damage because of the incredible flow rates during the hurricane downpours. I'm counting the days until I can see the sun.

Jim_H wrote:If you are looking at my map link posted above, you can see the precip forecast has gone up a lot. Over 2 inches in the San Juans, which if snow above 12,000', pretty much shuts me down until a decent pack builds up and stabilizes. It couldn't have waited 1 week?

Yeah it looks like you might end up getting shut out. SW Utah has a Winter Storm Watch in place looking for more than a foot accumulating at 8,000+ feet. In your backyard, I wouldn't be surprised if Black Mesa gets a little accumulation too.

Hope this doesn't ruin my field work and backpack next week.

Ugh. I want to be in Costa Rica NOW instead of having to wait until January.

I grew up in San Diego until I was 25. Hawaii until I was 32. Then Tucson for 13 years. There was a freak snowstorm or two while I lived in Tucson--first time I had ever seen snow falling out of the sky. Then moved to Springerville/Eagar in '99. 11 years there. Almost one year here in Flag, so 12 years of snow in my life now.

I'm ready to NOT live in the snow. Good thing about it is I did finally learn to cross country ski, and got fairly proficient at it. Other than that I have no use for snow. It's cold and I can't wear shorts and sandals.

So, :PMIC: I'm going to Costa Rica for four months! But not until January, alas.

Elizabeth - the question is, is Costa Rica ready for YOU?!

After growing up here, I moved to MN for 14 years. I was sooooo ready to get out of the desert and experience AnyWhere else. MN was pretty nice in the summer, but it only took about 3 years for the winters to get really old, fast....And then, the summers weren't that awesome, you had to "coat" yourself with bug spray from April through September every day. I became SO much more appreciative of AZ and the beauty of the desert. After 14 years I said "enough" and moved back. Love to play in the snow, but would not want to live in it again.....

writelots wrote:Elizabeth - the question is, is Costa Rica ready for YOU?!

I don't think they've been given a choice... :whistle:

.15" in my yard last night. Looks like as much as .35" in some other spots.

The most amusing thing to me was watching the dbags game on TNT they were showing stock footage of a nice sunset over the White Tanks and then just randomly say that the roof is closed. Yeah, cause while they were showing that nice sunset, the ballpark was getting pummeled by a thunderstorm! They kept showing placid evening photos outside the ballpark, and only once mentioned that it had actually rained earlier. :roll:

PLC92084 wrote:

writelots wrote:Elizabeth - the question is, is Costa Rica ready for YOU?!

I don't think they've been given a choice... :whistle:

So, I wonder, should I disguise myself somewhat while living there?

Last night I walked outside only to be completely surprised to find that it was actually cool outside. The term on my car said 72 degrees