Atmosphere Comparison

[Jim]

The endless chatter of weather.

[azbackpackr]

We had thunder (so presumably we had lightning as well) earlier today. Right now it's blowing and raining cats and dogs. It's very slushy rain. I am sitting in my car in the library parking lot with the engine running and the heater blowing. It's kind of a fun bubble to be in, in the storm!

[Jim]

Exciting times. We even had a little mud today over here. Not rain, mud. Dusty rain, I guess.

[johnlp]

I got 1.3 inches of rain at my house!

[Jim]

Looks like northern and central Arizona got a pretty good storm, but I can't tell if southern Arizona was missed or not. No reports for snow in the Catalinas or Rincons, which were originally forecast to get 6 to 9 inches over 7,000'. Rain fall was virtually non-existent according to the rainlog, in Tucson. It's sunny here, and should be well into the 80s by Wednesday, in Tucson. Fantastic. Winter is over!

Anyone know if the Catalinas got much snow?

[SuperstitionGuy]

The Sups are not white this morning....

[azbackpackr]

But the Salt River has come up from about 200 cfs last week to almost 600 this morning! And it's still morning, when it is typically very low! Woo hoo!

[Jim]

Ought to be higher next week, when the snow starts to melt with the near 90 temps in the low desert, so 40s, 50s and maybe 60s up high.

[Jim]

Well, Ski the Lemmon has not updated their page, and I think they would have proudly announced new snow to attract skiers, if they had gotten any. Silence is ambiguous and people might go up in hopes of skiing powder. Also, the precipitation analysis shows nothing for the Catalinas. Oh, well. Still looking forward to warm sunny days next week.

[Dschur]

We had 5-7 inches of snow Friday night and all day Sat.. but most of it had melted by sunday afternoon. And the ground was saturated with little streams running everywhere... makes about the 4th or 5th storm this winter at this amount of snow in Payson.

[Jim]

Compared to the other western states, aside from Oregon and Washington, Arizona has done fairly well this winter. Though long term deficits exist, unless monsoon season is dry, this ought to be a fairly good year.

[Jim]

Hey, tomorrow is the first day of Spring.

[chumley]

Hey, tomorrow is the first day of Spring.

Really? If I scroll back about 137 pages in this thread, don't you argue that the equinoxes and solstices don't actually define the seasons? (I didn't bother searching for it, so I could be wrong. It may have been somebody else.)

[beterarcher]

@Jim_H
Yah but it's one day closer to summer

[Jim]

In terms of the weather, I believe I did argue that. In terms of the sun, tomorrow the most direct rays pass from the southern to the northern hemisphere, so there is something for everyone, at 4:02 AM in Arizona, 5:02 over here.

I like summer. I presume I will be in Alamogordo to at least the end of it, and I look forward to seeing some green over here when the monsoon arrives. I wonder if this desert has cicadas and other noise makers the way the desert in Arizona does. I hope it does.

[azbackpackr]

Snow is melting fast! It finally does really seem like spring here. My lawn even has a few sprigs of green. And the semipermanent pool of ice in the shade of my front yard has melted. (I admit, I salted it to hurry it along!)

And the Salt River is holding pretty well in the 1500 range--it has gone down a little bit over the past couple of days but it should be just fine for our trip on Saturday!

[Jim]

NWS offices from Hanford, CA, to Flagstaff, to Tucson and El Paso, TX, all talk about a late season trough and low pressure system dropping out of the Gulf of Alaska later this coming week and entering the SW, perhaps bringing snow and rain to the region next weekend. A week out, a lot can change, but it would be great news for the Sierra, which has at best had about 60% of normal. More for AZ would be good, too, especially the Tucson area. Keep those canyons flowing with water and keep water levels up so I need only carry a liter and a filter for early May. There is some potential that even Alamogordo/ southern New Mexico might get something out of it, but my guess is that this late in the season a storm would be wind and nothing more. Not in the Tularosa Basin, as least. Depending on how things work out Arizona is usually well positioned to pick up some rain and snow. Pacific storms just don't do much down here with the rain shadow affect and a tendency for the lows to lift north as they enter the continent. We'll see.

[Jim]

25 for the low here in Alamo this morning. Winter won't die. On the other hand, the those attractive models are backing off the low coming into the SW and it is looking like New Mexico and southeast Arizona will probably remain dry. At least the Catalinas had a decent winter. The Sierra, northern Arizona, Utah and Colorado might pick up some more, though. After a day on a very loose and dusty trail, I think rain would be great. Probably won't see that for a few months. Ski the Lemmon is likely done for the season, but maybe Chumley can delight in a new storm in the final week's of Snowbowl's season. Nothing like new snow up there in spring.

[sneakySASQUATCH]

We got snow the last two days. I know Denver did as well. Dry enough to sweep instead of shovel. 6-10 inches in the last 48 hours. I might get unpacking, recurrent pre course work in and still get some turns.

[Jim]

Hey, it's April!

It's going to be in the low 80s today, and while wind is forecast here, it isn't going to be windy and in the high 50s, which makes a big difference. It may not be the Sonoran Desert, but it isn't the Colorado Plateau! Winter is over, and its lovely.

My current conditions: 75, south wind at 8 mph. Alright.

[azbackpackr]

Nice weekend to head for the Blue River, which gets pretty hot later in summer.