Sunday, August 1, 2010

Monsoon

We live in a desert climate. Our annual rainfall is 10 inches a year. I often tell my friends and relatives about our monsoon and I get a lot of skepticism. While it isn't the Indian monsoon, it is a significant part of our rainfall. For about 60 days from mid-July to mid-September, we will get moisture pulled in from the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of California caused by air heating up over the Rocky Mountains.

Saturday was a great example. I went hiking in the morning for about 2.5 hours and got home around 11 AM. I showered then went out to get some groceries. Up to this point the skies were a little cloudy but nothing particularly ominous.

I came out of the grocery store (about 2 miles from the house) at around 12:20 and it was starting to rain. As I drove up the hill toward home, it started to pour. I grabbed these pictures.




5 comments:

Mike said...

10 inches a year? Wow. Seeing pictures of rain in the desert does look kinda strange.

Anonymous said...

I remember watching the monsoon clouds roll in over the mountains each day, back when I lived in Albuquerque. It was an awesome sight.

terri said...

I'll bet everyone stops what they're doing to watch something the rest of us just take for granted.

alexis said...

my favorite was running through the warm monsoon rain :)

Indeed the NM monsoon gets no respect in India :)

Lakeview Coffee Joe said...

Hmmm, I'm still suspect. Maybe a video of the rain will convince me.

At least you didn't get caught out in it!