FAQ: Chasing the Southwestern Monsoon

I'm noticing today some first signs of the monsoon starting to establish itself down in central Mexico. Tropical Pacific moisture is streaming from the south into central Mexico with some moisture creaping up into the southern Sea of Cortez which should get into the Sierra Madres in a day or two. This is usually the early set up, moistening up the high country, and waiting for the four-corners high to start drawing it up into AZ.

I'm liking it!
 
Yea, Will. I'm trying not to get too optimistic, but it looks (and believe me, FEELS -103 today) like the season is perhaps a few weeks ahead of schedule. Of course the Monsoon is notoriously fickle - it may simply be teasing us puny humans as entertainment. :cool:
 
I will definintly miss it this year, i got orders to guam and will be spending 3 years there, i bet this will be a good one too. I guess my next adventure will be typhoons.
 
Yeah, I tend to be a bit optimistic, and even more so now from today's Tuscon discussion:

HIGH CENTER CONSOLIDATES ACROSS THE CENTRAL BASIN NORTH AND NORTHWEST OF US BY MONDAY...COMBINED WITH THE LOW DRAWING FROM THE CENTRAL BAJA COAST NORTHWARD AROUND IT`S PERIPHERY...THIS SHOULD CREATE A DECENT SOUTHEASTERLY FETCH THROUGH SOUTHEAST ARIZONA TO START THE NEW WEEK. HIGH CENTER WOBBLES TOWARD THE FOUR CORNERS AREA BY WEDNESDAY FOR A BETTER SOUTHERLY COMPONENT TO THE FLOW...KIND OF AN AUGUST TYPE THING. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT THE MOISTURE UPSTREAM WILL NOT BE AS DEEP AS WHAT WE WILL SEE FOR THE SUMMER THUNDERSTORM SEASON. EVEN SO...IT WILL BE QUITE GOOD FOR A MAY PATTERN AND ISOLATED TO LOW END SCATTERED MOUNTAIN THUNDERSTORMS MAY PLAGUE US FOR MUCH OF THE WEEK...WITH A FEW VALLEY STORMS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. INITIAL MID LEVEL MOISTURE WILL MEAN RATHER HIGH BASED STORMS WITH DRY MICROBURST AND LIGHTNING POTENTIAL...BUT MOISTURE SHOULD ULTIMATELY BE SUFFICIENT FOR DECENT BRIEF RAIN CORES ASSOCIATED WITH SOME STORMS (AGAIN...FOR MAY ANYWAY).
 
Nice preview of things to come in Tucson today. :)
Elevated storms breaking out over the area. Precip is easily reaching the ground; and the cool downdrafts are most welcome!
 
Hi, for those who are curious, the daily t-storm activity in Arizona this last week has taken place in the higher terrain/forested areas and dissipated for the most part by sunset.

It is unusual to have this much storm activity late May/early June in Arizona. Smaller dry t-storms (fire weather) in the high country is more common. Storms this week have yielded daytime rain and lightning up there.

Most "genuine" Monsoon activity in the Central Deserts and Phoenix doesn't usually kick off until early July. For the southeast corner of Arizona, maybe mid to late June.

cheers
 
Hey Susan and all...

Thanks so much for all your write ups on the monsoon. Love it. I usually chase the Palmdale, Mojave area being from LA. It's only an hour for me to get there. Actually, my brother and I saw a Tornado just N. of Edward's Air-force base a few years ago while chasing. Pretty cool.

I am planning on a little vacation with my family the week of Aug.22 in the Tuscan area? Any hot spots there? We will be staying near Oro Az.. I would appreciate anyones thoughts..

Thanks so much,

Brian

~~~~

www.surfingthefront.com
 
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Tucson is a hot spot in itself. There are a lot of great vantage points too, like Gates Pass, parts of the Coronado Highway (it goes in the mountains, great views but would be closer to lightning too), Mission San Xavier del Bac would be a favorite of mine (I stopped there again the other day, I love the place) and points along Highway 19. The SE corner of the state too such as Benson, Willcox, Tombstone, well they're good too...
 
From Oro Valley, the town of Oracle on AZ 77 is on the northern bajada of the Catalina Mountains with very nice views and some shoppes. At over 4,000 feet, it's a bit cooler. Along the way is Biosphere II which still, I think, gives tours (at around $20 per). A mile or so east of Oracle you drop over 2,000 feet to the San Pedro "River" -- several vistas along the way.

A nice way to return is down the San Pedro from San Manuel to Redington and then back over Redington Pass -- a favored entry for late afternoon monsoon storms in the Tucson area.

I tried to do some yard work this afternoon. Lasted about ten minutes outside at over 110 in the shade. So far the monsoon has been a bust here, unless you like dust. So much dust blew up from southwest of the city yesterday that it looked like our South Mountain Park surely was afire. So much so that I drove down there into the billowing thick cloud to check it out. Blecch!
 
The action is on... did well with the lightning last night and tonight, and it is still going, been very busy but wanted to let monsoon people know that this week looks very favorable... cheers and happy hunting...
 
Brian Press said:
Hey Susan and all...

Thanks so much for all your write ups on the monsoon. Love it. I usually chase the Palmdale, Mojave area being from LA. It's only an hour for me to get there. Actually, my brother and I saw a Tornado just N. of Edward's Air-force base a few years ago while chasing. Pretty cool.

I am planning on a little vacation with my family the week of Aug.22 in the Tuscan area? Any hot spots there? We will be staying near Oro Az.. I would appreciate anyones thoughts..

Thanks so much,

Brian

~~~~

www.surfingthefront.com
Click to expand...

In the Tucson Area:


There is a pretty good viewpoint at the Madera Canyon visitor's center. It offers sweeping views of the setting sun filtering behind the Sierrarita Mountains. http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/for...ader_cyn.shtml

More ambitious is driving Mt. Hopkins Road up the mountain. Stupendous views! The road is used by the telescope folks and is kept in excellent condition. Exit I-19 at Canona Rd south of Green Valley, head S along the eastern frontage road; turn E on Elephant Head Rd, then right at Mt. Hopkins Rd. Follow it as long as you like. There's a gate near the top, so you can't get to the observatories, however this spot is atop a ridge that offers great visibility to the E and SE. The mountain ranges cascade away for miles. http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coronado/for..._hopkins.shtml

Another pretty place is the La Cienegas reserve, about 20 miles S of I-10 on hwy 83. The area is rolling grassland. The Santa Rita Range does tend to block the setting sun, so westerly viewing is poor. But the same sunset can create fantastic colors in any clouds/storms to the NE, E and S. http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/blm...scienegas.html

Kitt Peak has a great road and stupendous views in most directions.

Other popular Tucson areas include:

Gates Pass. Exit Speedway, drive W. till you hit the mountains.

Babad Do'ag overlook, a few miles up the Catalina Highway. Classic/cliche' view of storms over Tucson. There are more overlooks higher up, including one (forget the name) 3.5 miles past Windy Point that offers the only good view of the San Pedro Valley to the east. Hike a few 100 yards N from the parking lot to gain altitude and improve the view.

If you're up for a hike, Sabino Canyon holds great promise. With the right timing, fantastic storm/sunset/mountain shots should be possible. Bring an umbrella, or garbage bags at the least, to protect your gear in the event you get run over by the storms. Mountain Lion repellent is handy too!
 
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Greg Campbell said:
In the Tucson Area:
Kitt Peak has a great road and stupendous views in most directions.

Other popular Tucson areas include:

Gates Pass. Exit Speedway, drive W. till you hit the mountains.

Babad Do'ag overlook, a few miles up the Catalina Highway. Classic/cliche' view of storms over Tucson. There are more overlooks higher up, including one (forget the name) 3.5 miles past Windy Point that offers the only good view of the San Pedro Valley to the east. Hike a few 100 yards N from the parking lot to gain altitude and improve the view.

If you're up for a hike, Sabino Canyon holds great promise. With the right timing, fantastic storm/sunset/mountain shots should be possible. Bring an umbrella, or garbage bags at the least, to protect your gear in the event you get run over by the storms. Mountain Lion repellent is handy too!
Click to expand...

Kitt Peak=soaring views, like being an eagle, however the mountain road to the top closes at 4pm :/ I was just there to look at the telescopes and noticed this. This is the type of road that makes spines tingle while driving up, it is a cliff with drop-off. A bald protruding perch, Kitt Peak would be a gnarly place to be at night, esp in a storm!

Gates Pass=excellent and there is also Old Tucson near there, the old movie set, as a possible western foreground for storms.

Babat Duag=one of the best Madrean sky island sweeping views. It is on the road to Mt. Lemmon. Be careful of becoming a CG target. Babat is an overlook on the side of a steep cliff. There is no protection from lightning, which strikes often. But on a clear day, you can see all the way into Mexico!

Sabino=beautiful, but be careful there of severe flash flood potential. Sabino has intoxicating beauty, but it is a rushing v-shaped water canyon, with mountain lions too. In the stream, you can see how large boulders have been relocated by the fresh broken clean rock surfaces. During monsoon, this would be the case. But still it is beautiful if someone could pull it off.

Tucson offers much beauty and history, one can combine with storms in the Old Pueblo.

You may also run into border patrol or checkpoints; I went through one the other day on Highway 19 between Tucson and Nogales and another one to the west by Kitt. I was far into the US side. They didn't delay me too much.
 
I do not know where the gate is, but the sign says 4pm. Maybe you can go up the road somewhat, but the other thing is, zero places to pull over, just sheer cliff the entire length of the road's edge. I don't remember any overlooks on that road at all.

Babat Duag over Tucson would be a better choice than Kitt I think-unless one could stay the night somehow up there. I wonder, propose a generous donation and see what they say? Although once up there, wow what a ride during a thunderstorm. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Here's an Internet picture of how open that mountain is on top http://www.astro.ff.vu.lt/stase/KittPeak/KittPeak.jpg If anyone wanted to chase up there, they would have to think strategically about where to shoot from. Maybe this layout could help with that: http://www.ccastronomy.org/photo_tour_Kitt_Peak.jpg

btw when I was recently there I found the exact spot where Gary Ladd took his famous 1970s electrified Kitt shot that ran in Natl Geo. He was indoors, on the landing of a stairway inside one of the telescopes. I went in there to see the scope, but alas, the vantage point revealed itself! If you did shoot lightning from up there, you'd have to find a protected area like he did. But technically, you could pull it off...
http://www.noao.edu/kpno/40th/stickers/lightning.gif
 
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