HikeArizona.COM

The endless chatter of weather.

chumley wrote:

Joad Cressbeckler wrote:Yeah, funny how a big storm which was predicted to leave 1 to 1.5 inches of precipitation liquid equivalent...

April Fools from the NWS!

I don't know about that, but I will say that for all of the talk about how great an el nino is, we were below normal by about 50% for February and March. Had it not been for that freak January storm we would be below normal for the winter. So much for the hype, I think. Lake Mary isn't even where it was at this time in 2008, a non-el nino year.

White Mtns are more than 200% above normal. This causes water managers in the Valley to salivate.

http://arizonageology.blogspot.com/2010 ... -year.html

http://westernfarmpress.com/news/arizona-snowpack-0120/

It was a good year, just not great as everyone was saying it was going to be. Well, in Flagstaff anyway. Other areas of the state obviously did very well, and that seemed to be part of the problem for us. Many of the February and March storms hit central, southern and eastern Arizona, but not us. At one point, Ski Lemmon was reporting more snow than Snowbowl! However, we weren't hurting for it since Snowbowl was reporting more than Telluride, CO around the same time. It's a good thing the Salt River pack is so high because it looks like the Colorado River reservoirs will be dropping again this year.

Speaking of weather, it is actually decent here today. And all the icy snow that has been sitting in the north shade of my house since October has finally melted! And I rode my bicycle today for the first time in a couple of months. I would be hiking or doing more but I am busy with my homework. Sigh...

Had a sprinkle and some light snow of Thursday. Nothing serious, but it was hitting the ground. Just didn't stick around.

Far out, Pageman.

jhodlof experience wrote:Far out, Pageman.

Right on, man. Good weather here yesterday, not as windy as projected.

I am old enough to have seen Jimi live, and did, in '69. Outasight!

This amazed me. This little statement is from the azgfd.gov website under fishing report. It was dated 2 days ago.

RIGGS FLAT —The road up Mt. Graham remains closed with upwards of 10 feet of snow on the ground at the top of the mountain.

33 FEET fell on Baldy this winter. I doubt anyone is going to have a normal hike up it this summer. Not that people won't do it, but hiking in slippery old snow which hides the trail is not the same as following the nice easy trail.

33 feet is pretty impressive for anywhere. I wonder how dense it was, and if there is basically a years worth of precipitation sitting up there? Then some more in summer. Even 10 feet on the Pinalenos is impressive. It's no surprise that there could be 10 foot drifts on the roads.

Is it me, or does it seem like Spring is taking for ever this year? Maybe I just keep forgetting I live in Flagstaff and spring doesn't really arrive until the end of May when the freezes generally stop and the winds slow down. I did Elden yesterday and everything was still locked in the depths of winter. The oak buds aren't even swelling. I need to take a trip down the Oak Creek see if the trees are leaving out. I don't care if this Arizona and 7000' is mild compared to how it would be in Montana, it's still too cold here and spring seems to take forever when just a couple of thousand feet lower and 30 miles away it's in full swing. The elevation acclimatization benefit isn't even that great. Besides, how much time do I, or most other Flagstaff residents really spend above 12,000' where you want to have the thicker blood?

jhodlof experience wrote:Besides, how much time do I, or most other Flagstaff residents really spend above 12,000' where you want to have the thicker blood?

You more than most other Flagstaff residents!

You're right though. April sucks right now. I have too much work, too much school, not enough outdoors. May, we need you oh so much right now!

I just spent a glorious day rafting on the Salt. I had not been down off this mountain at all since Christmas. It was great to see the desert, everything green along the river, and quite a few flowers. The claret cup cactus in the rock crannies was really pretty. It was very warm at the lunch stop, what a difference from being on the mountain!

Every weekday I am driving my school bus early in the morning and notice the sun is higher in the sky. I watch all the neighborhood trees carefully for signs of leaves. There are budding leaves. My crabapple tree is going to bloom pretty soon, I think. The tulips are coming up in my front planters.

I drove down to Upper Lake Mary today. Much to my delight and surprise, it was flowing over the spillway and into Lower Lake Mary. The wind was creating a good chop on the lake and it looked like more water was flowing over than really was, due to waves, but it still looks good. Lower Lake Mary has a pool that is probably full based on the turn around on the boat ramp and the pick-nick area, which is only a few feet above the current water level. So, things came up a lot recently. That is good.

There is still a slight chance of rain. We didn't get any yesterday though. How about Flag?

Flagstaff NWS reports 2/100ths of an inch last night.

Oh, well, whoopdee doo!

Never trust anyone under thirty. Make love not war. Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Don't bogart that joint, my friend, pass it over to me... Turn on, tune in, drop out. Flower power. Hell no, we won't go!

jhodlof experience wrote:Flagstaff NWS reports 2/100ths of an inch last night.

I felt a drop yesterday too.

Well, we're basically at normal since January 1, and while we are below normal since September 1 and the start of the water year, we aren't really hurting for water. Especially with Lake Mary full. Hopefully there was some good aquifer recharge from the winter, since that is where most of Flagstaff's water now comes from. Either way, we don't really need more rain, I just want some. Unless we get a nice soaking, road and car cleaning rain in the next few weeks, I hope we don't get anything. Memorial Day Weekend 2008 did not benefit from the rain and snow we had, and last May's freakish rain was not welcome either. Sure, it's good for the forest, but I want it to be warm and dry from early May to the start of the Monsoon.

BTW: I am now predicting a June 28 start to the Monsoon as noted by the beginning of regular summer thunderstorms in the Flagstaff area.

Name change! Oh Yeah!