My weather addiction has taken a new turn. No, I’m not going to do the Tornado Videos Tour that I’ve been talking about recently (at least, not this year), but I did buy a little something that will take my weather hobby to the next level.

For awhile I’ve had a little tiny home weather station, which is basically just a remote temperature gauge that shows the temp outside as well as the one inside. Boring, but it was cool. I also had a manual rain gauge outside where I track the rainfall all year by logging the amount of precipitation we get anytime it rains.

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If anyone was wondering where the photo came from in the header of my blog here, it’s from a weather shot I took coming home from Williams, AZ a few months ago during a monsoon storm.

Nothing fancy, I’m no photographer, but I liked the contrast of the sign with the dark clouds in the background.

When I first put up the new theme, it had a default “flower” kind of header up top and someone suggested I put something up there that was more “me”…so I grabbed a weather picture, because if any of you know me, a picture of a cloud is definitely ME.

First off, you have to know I’m a weather nut to the core, but this isn’t really about the weather.

It’s just about enjoying it.

Today has been one of those days that is worth remembering. It was chilly this morning, overcast and drizzly. I love it when it’s like this, but yesterday had been rainy all day and I was sort of ready to see it clear up a bit. We talked about going to dinner tonight, maybe sitting outside on a patio, but with the clouds and rain, it was a bit too cold.

I had to run a package to the FexEx store this morning, and it was still cloudy, but the rain had stopped. So I took the top off the Jeep, piled the dogs inside and we went for a ride. They loved it. Stopped at a park, they went running all over the place as if they hadn’t been out of the house in months.

Which is actually true.

But just driving in the cool temperatures was relaxing and awesome.

It didn’t take long for the skies to clear and the sun to come out. And the temperature rose, not too high, but to an absolute perfect 71 degrees.

I’ve been trying to work this afternoon, but every so often I have to go and sit outside on the patio. The wind picked up, so my trees sound so soothing as they blow in the breeze. The sun keeps you just warm enough not to get cold, and the air feels heavenly. Every now and then the light dims as a lone cloud blocks the sunlight.

It even smells good out there.

These are the kinds of days that make me feel close to God. Heck, heaven could be amazing, but I almost am hoping that if I ever get there someday, I’d like to be perpetually in a place that is like today.

Relaxing, eyes closed…just feeling the rush of the wind around you, the sound of the leaves swooshing back and forth and the wind chimes on our patio playing their soft music.

It’s basically my perfect day out there. The only way it could possibly get better would be a brief thunderstorm rolled through, reminding you that while God created this peaceful day just for me, he can also turn it on its head in a moment’s notice.

Not sure what compelled me to write this…it’s just how I get when it feels like heaven sitting outside on a lawn chair.

Most people say Phoenix really has no seasons. True, we don’t get the snow or freezing temperatures, but I can definitely attest to the fact that the leaves on my Elm trees DO fall off and leave me with a ton of raking to do.

When you’ve suffered through a record number of days over 110 degrees, there is truly a “fall” for Phoenix residents.

Monday morning I drove to work for the first time without air conditioning since who knows when. It was 62 degrees at 5:30 in the morning and absolutely beautiful out. Even my drive home was only 85 and I still didn’t turn on the A/C.

It was 60 this morning here and I’m working at home with the sliding door open and the outside temperature at 10am is just now matching the 75 I have it set to inside.

This is the beginning of what I think is the best time to be in Arizona. Most come for the heat and to get away from the snow, but being outside in the evenings with temps in the 70’s is just perfect.

Should really help me with one of my 101 Things To Do: #78 - Read an entire book outdoors this winter.

[tags]phoenix,arizona,fall,weather[/tags]

The northern most edge of Hurricane Henriette has breached the Arizona border. While they are projecting the path to head more into New Mexico, it’s already raining in Tucson and building our way. Some links to check out:

Local AZ Radar

Henriette radar loop

Projected path

No, of course not…but some of you probably have heard me say that I’d love to experience a hurricane someday. Well, since I don’t really have the money or time to chase Felix around Mexico, the next best thing will be Henriette.

Amazingly, this Pacific storm is coming straight up Mexico and into Arizona, or so they predict. It wont be a hurricane, but it should still be a tropical storm or at least a tropical depression.

What does that mean? Rain and stuff! Probably Friday - Sunday maybe…check out the predicted path to the left. I’ll keep you guys updated.

Okay, still another blog today…I wanted to post the pictures I took last night (Thursday night) of this amazing sunset featuring a monsoon storm that was one of the most beautiful I’ve seen in such a long time. I got lucky walking out back to see it in the first place, so I grabbed the camera and drove down to the desert a half mile away and just started snapping shots. I wish that I had a better camera for weather shots, because it was dusk and my little Fuji has a issues when it comes to lack of light.
So here they are…I made two panoramic pictures out of 4-5 individual ones, plus some of my favorite normal shots.

Monsoon sunset 1 - the first shot

Monsoon sunset 2 - getting darker

Monsoon sunset 3 - just a spooky, dark color

Monsoon sunset 4 - the lines here are amazing

Monsoon sunset - Panoramic 1

Monsoon sunset - Panoramic 2

Hope you enjoy them…was simply one of those moments when you truly see God in nature. It was absolutely spellbinding for me.

Last night we got a whopper of a good storm here in Phoenix. I was watching it most of the evening. Dave Munsey from Fox News said our chances didn’t look great, but honestly, the radar showed some funny patterns and I just knew it would backbuild up towards us.

I really missed my calling.

Anyways, last night’s rain gauge said two-tents again, so that four-tenths of an inch of rain this week…which is decent. None of my trees blew over either which is always a bonus. The dust was nasty thick and didn’t really go away for over an hour after the haboob came through.

I’ve seen quite a few haboob/dust storms in my days here…but last night was a sweet one. It didn’t hit until late evening, so it was dark, but you could still see it coming on the horizon. It was so quick too…you could see it moving in and when it hit, it was just like a wall of torrential winds. Much better than Monday’s storm.

Okay, Nicky said she was looking for a recap of the storm, so there you go. I also found a few links a couple of days ago to some cool weather shots in Phoenix and one in the Middle East. The time lapse one is great.

Dust storm in Khartoum

Mesa haboob

T-storm - dust time lapse

Rain. Finally.  Nerd speak to follow.

The flow of moisture yesterday finally resembled the Monsoons we know and love. It usually is a flow out of the southeast, which develops around Tucson and then moves into Phoenix. We also get that from the Mongollon Rim north of Payson, but you really don’t get those storms unless the flow is coming from the southeast.

Since you all asked, we got two tenths of an inch of rain at our house, which isn’t amazing, but still pretty decent. Nice dust storm, good lightning and loud thunder and one scared dog.

Looking forward to more rain in the coming days. I already see stuff building up around Tucson. Should be good!

If you don’t know what a haboob is, you are probably a normal, well-adjusted person. If you do know what it is, the implications are that you’re a weather nerd like myself.

A haboob is that big wall of dust the proceeds a thunderstorm during monsoon season in Arizona. But as the following link show, our little dust storms are pretty sad compared to those elsewhere. Almost like a dust devil compared to a tornado I’d reckon.

An Iraqi sandstorm