Out Arizona Way

[ezdays]

I thought it would be fitting to post this today, 30 years after the record heat:


Heat II

The last time we were talking about our monsoon season. This is when late in the afternoon we are hit with a wall of dust followed by a short period of very intense rain. Temperatures can drop a good 20 degrees in minutes. All this can cause sever flooding and you can be guaranteed that your vehicles will be covered with spots of mud if you left them outside. The dust cloud can sometimes be 20 or more miles wide and up to a mile high. Now technically, they use to declare the monsoon as having started when the average dew point reaches 55 degrees or higher for three consecutive days. Now June 15 is the official start regardless of this dew point thing. They now declare September 30 as the end of the season, but I usually just wait for a few weeks of no rain before I assume the rainy season is over and I can go and wash the mud off our vehicles. It's weird, the day after a storm you can tell which vehicles were outside when it hit. The rain is spotty; some areas might get an inch or more in an hour, while others barely get a drop. I’ve actually seen it pour on one side of the street and be totally dry on the other side.

Now the natural desert has what are called washes, places where rain runoff can flow like a river. After several months of no rain and a blazing sun, the desert floor becomes hard. When we have a lot of rain in a short period, rather than soaking in all the water, the excess runs off and collects in these washes. Since all this was a desert at one time, when they develop property, they are required to maintain these washes. In some places, they run streets so that they channel the runoff. In other places, they maintain the integrity of the original wash and keep it separate. Frequently, they will use these as parks, running or riding trails, but be warned, get out of them at the first sign of a storm. All over, in housing areas, shopping centers and along roadways, you’ll find catch basins designed to hold rainwater to keep it out of the sewer systems. These are also landscaped and some serve as a local play area. A lot of these larger washes run across roads, some are bridged others are not. Again, one has to use caution when approaching these since a wall of water, sometimes 10 or more feet high, can be coursing its way down what looks like a dry wash. Worse, you think the water is only a few inches deep when you drive in it, but find that it is really five feet deep and your car is only four foot, nine inches tall. Frequently they’ll find the car a few hundred yards downstream, and it’s occupants a few days later a mile or two away. We have what we call the “stupid motorist” law. That being if anyone needs rescuing after circumventing flood barriers, they pay the full cost of their rescue, and usually their insurance won’t cover the damage because it is self-inflicted.

The hottest day on record was an official 122 degrees at the Phoenix airport. That happened on June 26, 1990. One could tell it was hotter than usual since your feet would kind of sink into the asphalt in the parking lot rather than just stick a little. Air traffic was halted because the airplane charts didn’t go high enough and they weren’t sure there was enough runway length for them to take off. Around here, you’ll find people circling in a mall parking lot for a half-hour just to find a parking spot near an entrance. One goes from an air-conditioned house to an A/C car then to an A/C store. You never leave that environment for more than a minute or two as you run from one to the other. These summer storms frequently cause power outages, mostly from lightning strikes. You can call the power company and they will give you an estimate as to when they will restore power in your area, then you do what any sane individual would do, you head out to a store that still has power and you suck up as much of their A/C as you can. If the estimate is more than a few hours, you usually wind up at a movie. Hey, just because we live in this heat doesn’t mean that we don’t know how to deal with it sensibly.