Arizona Weather

I love the Desert – and the Valley of the Sun in Arizona. And I love our weather. Just because we do not have to rake leaves (much) or that we don’t have to shovel snow does not mean that we don’t have weather. And sometime in July our weather changes. In spring and early summer we get our weather from the Pacific Ocean and California. And as the air comes from the coast it has to go up over some large mountains – and it therefore drops most of its moisture and thus we are dry. But in July the Jet Streams move north and we start to get our air from the Gulf of Mexico and Texas. There are not any really large mountains between AZ and the Gulf. So the air arrives here with moisture. And we have our fabulous Monsoon season. And it is not just rain. It is incredible electric storms, dust storms, waterless clouds, deluges and one of my favorites: Rainy Sunshine.

Last week I was driving to work early in the morning. The sun was shining; there were even shadows cast by the cars and bridges. There were patches of beautiful blue in our expansive sky. But there were also patches of white, grey and black clouds. And then I drove into Rainy Sunshine. I was being blessed and kissed with both sunshine and rain at the same time.

Now that is weather.