Thursday, July 3, 2008

Skywatch Friday: The Monsoon in Arizona

(Photo taken 7-1-2008 by Kathie with the Nikon D80: see shooting data below)

A Monsoon is described a seasonal shift in the wind. Here in Arizona, it is when the prevailing winds shift from the west, northwest to the south, south east. On these winds the tropical moisture from the Gulfs of Mexico and California ride bringing us daily thunderstorms and humidity. Until this year the Monson was always marked by three consecutive days of a dew point of 54 degrees or higher. However, this year the National Weather Service has decided on a more fixed measurement. For the first time ever the official Monsoon starts on June 15 and ends on September 30th. Any rain that falls during that time period will be attributed to Monsoon rain.

For us, it really doesn’t change anything. The monsoon starts and ends when it wants to, and the rain falls where it will. During the Monsoon we have the most exciting skies of the year as thunderstorms roll in and curtains of rain fall. A Monsoon sunset is spectacular and never the same twice. This week’s Skywatch photo was taken Tuesday night, July 1 during one of those storms.

To see More Skywatch Friday photos just visit our host, Old Wom Tigly at Wigger's World.

To see my other Skywatch post visit my art and Poetry blog: Kathie’s Poet Tree.

To see Gus’ Skywatch Friday post visit Gusto!
Shooting data:
Nikon D802008/07/01 19:32:01.3
JPEG (8-bit)
NormalImage Size: Large (3872 x 2592)
ColorLens: VR 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6 G
Focal Length: 78mm
Digital Vari-Program: Landscape
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/125 sec - F/6.3Exposure
Comp.: 0 EV

22 comments:

Unknown said...

Impressive thundercloud!
My Sky Watch Friday posts

Gemma Wiseman said...

Dynamic pic! Not often do I think of a pink storm cloud!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Kathie: Here is a great case of taking the good from a bad situation. That is a great Sky.

Anonymous said...

We had a storm last night, too, but I didn't get great pictures from it as you did. Nice!

bobbie said...

It is an exciting sky, Kathie, and a beautiful one.

SandyCarlson said...

Great shot, Kathie! I think Connecticut has monsoon symptoms this summer!

Anonymous said...

Impressive colours and shapes! I'd imagine monsoons to be 'exciting' in many ways ;)

marcia@joyismygoal said...

keep looking up it is the only way to live isn't it great that we have skywatch to help us notice all this beauty

Country Girl said...

Majestic photograph with information I didn't know of before this. Thanks for sharing!

Pappy said...

I don't think I ever thought of Monsoon in connection with Arizona. I thought more like Southeast Asia. Learn something new everyday. Pappy

Quiet Paths said...

Oh how lovely. And I enjoyed reading about the monsoonal moisture you are getting. Lovely color in this one.

abb said...

Beautiful!

Rose said...

really magnificent skies you have here...or should I say clouds? I would not have minded seeing a whole series.

Amila Salgado said...

You really do take fabulous Sky Watch shots! Thanks for this informative post. And Happy Independence day!

Lilli & Nevada said...

Love the sky watch photos, when we were in Quartzite in Jan they had some beautiful sunsets and sunrises

Tom said...

Excellent Sky Watch.. picture perfect with those clouds and the colouring.. :O)

Anonymous said...

It is well known that we Portuguese once sailed the seven seas searching for new lands, wealth and adventures.
We were brave in those days and gave the world new worlds!

Luckily I don’t have to sail the big oceans on a small ship to sea the wonders of our world …
No Sir, I just need to check with Mr. Tom, the finest host there is, for a trip around the world with SKY WATCH TOURS and with a click here, a click there I am quickly in the USA, England, Brazil, Italy, China, Australia, Finland … well, everywhere.

And on each stop I come to see a little marvel of our world under a great sky!
Hope you can come and see my piece of the sky at lenses & visions

Pretty Life Online said...

Perfect entry for skywatch… all I can say is that “you’ll be the sun in somebody else’s sky”…LoL! Mine’s up too hope you can drop by…

Petunia said...

This is really nice:) Great clours and your shot is perfect!

me ann my camera said...

Very beautiful, I love the muted colours!

Pat - Arkansas said...

Beautiful, beautiful -- sky and photo. I was interested in the information about Monsoons; I didn't know, either, that they came to Arizona. Thanks for sharing this with us on Sky Watch.

Have a safe and fun trip to Connecticut & Maine. That's lovely country, too.

AnneKa said...

Great sky watch post, still trying to see all the sky watch photos on Tom's blog.