HikeArizona.COM

The endless chatter of weather.

chumley wrote: ↑Dec 23 2020 7:51 pm

big_load wrote:wind gusting at 65-70 mph

The power company called to say they're expecting outages and they had canceled all their workers vacation time to keep them all local and on call. Sounds like a lame Christmas for the utility workers, and the people at home with no electricity.

I wouldn't be surprised if something close to that happens. It's power outage season.

About 30 minutes ago I was woken to the sound of something on the roof! A pitter-patter of activity above me. Was it some magical obese elf and his cloven hoofed working animals, or did I eat something which was just now affecting me?

Turns out it was a momentary light rain, and not any supernatural phenomenon. Rain!

It passed.

I know, I thot my sprinkler system was broken when I looked over to one corner in my yard and then I realized it had rained too.

It was just enough to wash the dust out of the air. The Catalina's looked glorious yesterday afternoon from the Oro Valley area.

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PHX 2020
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33 record highs broken (Over 9% of days were warmer than that date had ever previously been recorded at PHX. That's literally mind-boggling )

172 days of 95°+ (47% of the year)
145 days of 100°+ (40%)
102 days of 105°+ (28%)
53 days of 110°+ (14%)
14 days of 115°+ (4%)
(ALL of those are the greatest number of days for each of those temperature thresholds since record keeping began at PHX in the late 1800s)

There were NO (zero) record lows recorded

@chumley
Well, there aren't any cities in Arizona that aren't Phoenix.

Glad I live in a town, now.

It was a long hot summer there. So hot that even being in a pool isn't good enough.

Starting to wonder if January will pass by without any rain in the valley. Reliable forecasts don't exist 3 weeks out, but the trends thusfar look very dry.

At least Phoenix had some rain a month ago. My yard was moist when I left it. Leaves on the Elephant Trees in the Estrella were growing.

Quite dry from what I can tell down here.

We had two brief showers down south in the last few months. The border areas got some but is very dry and a lot of the oaks look very stressed if not dead for some of them. I think can safely say wildflowers will be at a minimum in southern az this year.

I've lost a couple of bushes due to heat stress in my yard. But the damn oleanders look even better, can't do anything to get rid of them.

I saw rain in the forecast for next week so I washed the car today

@hikerdw I think I’ll do the same!

The last 48 hours have introduced the potential for some rain across the central Arizona deserts to 3 of the 4 main models. Though the timeframe is only 4 days away, there's basically no confidence in what will occur. For now, it looks like if the system coordinates to produce significant moisture, it will miss our area. If it will hit central Arizona, it will probably be less robust moisture-wise. But I'm starting to think there will at least be a few showers to tamp down the dust, and you won't find me complaining about that!

Wash your car on Monday night!

chumley wrote:Wash your car on Monday night!

The only words that have any meaning in your statement!

Yeah, the models are all over the place for amounts and where the precipitation may fall. Currently, wide spread 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch is being forecast for a lot of SW Arizona and extreme SE Ca, as well as adjacent Mexico, which would be great since that area was very dry over the last 10 months. I would be fine with that, but also hope there is some water over the dry watersheds and places in SE AZ.

A strange substance fell out of the sky for 12 seconds. And then it didn't anymore. But I'm optimistic about the next 5 days.

@chumley
Near my house there was a similar strange occurrence where a group of that substance congregated in one low lying spot on the driveway.
Upon closer inspection I discovered it was indeed a rare sighting of a "puddle".

chumley wrote:A strange substance fell out of the sky

It was Homelander.

Naturally, most here are interested in Piestewa.

Wednesday: A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 68. East wind around 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: Showers, mainly after 11pm. Low around 55. East northeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Thursday: Showers likely, mainly before 11am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 64. East northeast wind around 5 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 53. West southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 65. East southeast wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
Friday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52. Calm wind becoming south southeast around 5 mph after midnight.

Saturday: A chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 61. Breezy, with a south southeast wind 10 to 15 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Saturday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light and variable in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Sunday: A 50 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 58. Light and variable wind becoming west southwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Sunday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 45. West southwest wind around 5 mph becoming south southeast after midnight.

Monday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 57. Breezy, with a south southeast wind 5 to 15 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.
Monday Night: A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43. Breezy, with a southwest wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tuesday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 55. South wind around 5 mph.

Waves of vicious sprinkles, the annual average in a week, or a glorified goose egg?
It'll be interesting to look back next Tuesday and see how it worked out... maybe

It's going to snow in NJ tomorrow for the first time in a month. I like the rain better, since you don't usually have to shovel it.