Thursday, August 2, 2007

It's Rainin' All the Time...


Weather Forcast for Sedillo, NM 87059:
Thursday: Partly cloudy in the morning, afternoon thunderstorms, highs in the 80's.
Friday: Mostly cloudy, afternoon thunderstorms, highs in the 80"s
Saturday: Mostly the same...

Every afternoon for the past week we have had afternoon thunderstorms. Our rains in the east mountains have been moderate, but ABQ is getting flash flood warnings every afternoon now.

Not that we're complaining, mind you. Our fire danger is much reduced. No forests are closed.




Monsoon precipitation at Los Pecos Homeschool:

Monday: 0.15 inches
Tuesday: 0.15 inches
Wednesday: 0.14 inches

The monsoon has not only blossomed, it has exploded.
And up here, the ground is more capable of absorbing the moisture than it is in ABQ.

Our roof sheds the water quickly. We really need to think about putting in a rainwater cistern to help in the dry times. But right now, we still have to finish the floors. Maybe next spring?


This monsoon has been behaving normally.

In the afternoons, the thunderheads build over the mountains. The storms move in between 3:30 and 5 PM.
We get thunder and lightning ahead of the rain. The air cools quickly by about 20 - 30 degrees. Yesterday, it went down from about 80 degrees F to 52 degrees F in a few minutes.

Then the rains come in waves, lasting 20 - 30 minutes each. The more waves, the more precipitation we get of an evening.

And then about 8 PM, the clouds lift and the stars come out. Although it may stay partly cloudy all night.

This morning, we woke up to partly cloudy. There was mist in the relatively low places in our hills. We can expect more of the same for the whole seven-day forcast.

This is such a nice time of the year. We are "weather people." We like to observe, record, and have a storm or two big enough to call the weather service with an on-the-spot report.

Hmmm...the clouds are rolling in early today.

Gotta go!





6 comments:

Crimson Wife said...

Summer thunderstorms are one thing I miss about New England. The S.F. Bay Area doesn't get much rain this time of year and when it does, it tends not to be accompanied by thunder.

I nominated you for a "Blogger Reflection" award BTW!

denise said...

Ah, how nice. I loved this time of year when I lived in NM. I love the smell in the air.

Can you believe it is significantly hotter here with NO rain?

Anonymous said...

We live in Colorado and our weather is very similar these days. today we have heavy rain and flash flood watches in the forecast. At least te heat is a little lower than earlier in the week!

Anonymous said...

E what is the yearly average for rainfall?

We live very close to two little towns that aggressively compete for the annual "Golden Gum Boot Award". The wettest places in Australia (you can't have lush rainforests without rain) they have marketed their heavy rainfall well. Last year, the winner had 173 inches.

We are supporters of rain water tanks. Because Australia is the driest place on earth, rain water tanks are encouraged for drinking at least but many people now try to operate their houses on rainwater if they can. When building, if the home owner installs rainwater tanks they received cash back offers or rebates from local councils.

I'm feeling stronger now, but I still can't read your email. It is so beautiful that I end up crying again. I will answer you as soon as I can stop watering the key board!

Elisheva Hannah Levin said...

Crimson Wife:
Thanks. I'll be over to see what that is about.

Denise,
Where are you living now? I am going to have to come by again and check. And yes--the smell of the Ponderosa Pines when they get wet, the juniper and chamisa--it is heavenly! Like a whole mountain of spices!

Megan:
Albuquerque is high desert grassland and gets around 8 - 12 inches precipitation a year. Here in the Sandia Mountains east of ABQ, we get double that--about 16 - 24 inches precipitation per year. These are desert mountains, and we have the Chihuahuan desert unimodal rainfall pattern, which means that we really count on the monsoon each year. Through most of the '90's, it failed and we were tinder dry.

Amie said...

Wow, look at that sky!! Awesome