I’ve been posting pictures on Facebook lately of the monsoons we are having here in Tucson. It’s the beginning of our monsoon season, and for non-Tucsonans, there always seems to be questions about this crazy natural phenomenon that occurs in my city every year.
So, to set the record straight and to give all of you non-desert dwellers an understanding of monsoons, let me describe it to all of you.
The month of June is unbearably hot in Tucson. Our temperatures build and build, and most of our days are above 100 degrees. Usually at the beginning of July, the temperature in Tucson (and in other cities in the Western US and in Mexico) far exceeds the temperature in the ocean. Here’s Wikipedia’s description:
Monsoons are large-scale sea breezes which occur when the temperature on land is significantly warmer or cooler than the temperature of the ocean. These temperature imbalances happen because oceans and land absorb heat in different ways.
As a result, our days can be perfectly sunny & beautiful, but by late afternoon, clouds can start rolling in, and we’ll get soaked!
Most Tucsonans love monsoon season, because those terrential downpours cool off our weather, and the power behind one of these storms is amazing to watch.
Here’s my favorite monsoon picture I ever took, because you can just see how the clouds come in and look so threatening. It’s spooky cool!
And here’s another picture where you can see the storm.
It is finally monsoon season in Tucson, and I am loving every minute of it. Come on rain…give us what you’ve got! We can take it!
My song of the day is one of my favorite rain songs. I love Peter, Paul and Mary’s rendition of “Early Morning Rain.” The song is originally sung and written by Gordon Lightfoot, but Peter, Paul and Mary’s harmonies are just so beautiful. Enjoy the song today, blog friends, and enjoy the rain!
