After the rain showers late last week, I stepped out into the courtyard and took this photo of another beautiful Arizona high desert sunset. The rain clouds were drifting away and the sun lit them up from the west. Click on the image to enlarge.
Climate
Rainy Day Comfort Food
On a cool, rainy day in the high desert, what better comfort food than piping hot split pea soup with andouille sausage bits, carrots, potatoes and onions? Verna fixed a very warm and comforting meal on a gloomy day. Click on the image to enlarge.
Rain is Coming
. . . and we can use it here in our little desert town. I took this photo today on our way to go shopping before it started raining. Click on the image to enlarge.
Current Sunspot Activity
Sunspot 1575 is currently pointing in our direction. It looks like the class of sunspot that can disrupt things in the electrical grid and in communications satellites. Of course, sunspots can be directly traced to periods of warmer and cooler temperatures on Earth. Click on the image to enlarge.
Monsoon Evening
We had a pretty good rain shower this afternoon. It quickly came and went without much impact other than raising the humidity in our part of the Sonoran desert to an astounding 65%. Who ever said that Sonoran summers were a DRY heat?
All jesting aside, the rain this summer has brought a badly needed increase to the ground water plane here, regardless of the minor discomfort of a little mugginess. Tonight’s radar weather map indicates a lot of shower activity along the lower Colorado river and north of I-40 in the Kaibab plateau. The Sandia mountains and a lot of new Mexico are also enjoying a rainy evening.
There are a few flash flood warnings in all the heavy rain shower areas.
Monsoons at the Grand Canyon
I can’t take credit for this image of the Grand Canyon taken from the webcam at Yavapai Point on the south rim. The National Park Service operates a system of webcams around the country at selected NPS sites. Click on the image to enlarge.
