December Comes In with Winds from the South

An old weather adage: 'Wind from the south has water in it's mouth.'

And did it ever. On Friday night at about midnight, we heard the south wind come up and batter the trees and houses with 30 - 40 MPH gusts.


And then it brought rain toward morning.
It's unusual for strong, frontal winds to bring rain here in the Sandias. Usually, strong winds blow away the clouds and moisture towards the northwest.

On Saturday morning, the clouds were breeching the Sandia front like a dam.
And the rain guage showed that we had gotten over an inch of precipitation overnight.




At dawn, the winds were blowing strong and steady from the southwest to the northeast, and swift clouds tumbled over the mountain and came scudding along the valley floor.

I thought it might be pretty chilly outside, what with the clouds and wet weather and strong winds. So I pulled my ski jacket sans goosedown liner over my 'hoodie' sweatshirt.




By the time I got the dogs geared up and outside, however, the sun had risen above the ridge, and the sky had the October Blue color, and the clouds were fluffy and white.
The air had that warm and wet March-in-the-Midwest feel, though the wind was blowing like March in New Mexico.
But the scrub oak and meadow grass are definitely Winter Brown.

This is December 1st? What season is it, anyway? Fall-Winter-Spring. That's what La Nina brings!









Puddles in the low places in the meadow.

This is something we don't get very often. That warm storm off of Baja snuck right past La Nina, and brought us some much needed moisture.

We'll take it, though we were expecting snow. A warm storm carries more water than a cold one does.



Yesterday morning was warmer than yesterday afternoon. The south wind shifted to a south-west wind, and brought us a short-lived cold front.

Last night we got strong winds and a freeze. This morning, these puddles were gone. What water did not sink into the ground was evaporated in the wind that blew the storm on up to Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin.

But this morning, the frozen ground felt just a bit springy underfoot. Some of that water did sink in, and froze there, so that if we do get snow, the melt-off will not be so quick.

We need that kind of snowpack to have a good winter.

And it was so beautiful! Standing water--albeit briefly--in the mountains of New Mexico.
Odd way to begin December, but we'll take it!