Greg Campbell
EF5
Yikes! Which cost more, the Starbuck's or the gas?
After several weeks of 'not much', we've finally enjoyed some decent action in and around Tucson over the last few days.
FAQ: Chasing the Southwestern Monsoon
- Thread starter Susan Strom
- Start date
Yikes! Which cost more, the Starbuck's or the gas?
After several weeks of 'not much', we've finally enjoyed some decent action in and around Tucson over the last few days.
Will Wilkens
Saturday was quite interesting in the deserts of Southern California. A short-wave passage triggered numerous severe storms in the eastern Mojave Desert from San Bernardino County southward to Imperial County. One very large storm complex on the AZ side between Blythe and Yuma sent an outflow boundary west across Imperial County in the afternoon and triggered an impressive storm in the San Diego County desert that exploded northward towards the Coachella Valley, sloshing up against the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mtn ranges. The storm shot up to 60k feet and went supercell, radar indicated it that it was produceing 2.5" hail, and triggering flash flooding around Borrego Springs and Ocotillo Wells. The sight of the storm from my house was so incredible, it was breathtaking, from 50 miles away! I got out and took these pictures, which in my opinion is some of the most impressive structure I have seen in a long time out here. An intercept was out of the question as the storm reversed direction and headed east toward AZ after bouncing against the mtns. I was certain it would be pushed up and over to my side, but alas, no such luck...
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Dennis Dennison
Richard Dickson
EF2
Thought I would post five of my photos from a nice storm on the evening of 9/11/09. They were taken from a hill on the east side of the Pinto Valley Mine north of US 60 highway about nine miles west of Superior, Arizona. These, along with a bunch of other good photos made for a very enjoyable evening.
Attachments
Will Wilkens
WOW! Rich, those are absolutely fantastic photos!!!! Bravo!!
Susan Strom
EF5
Good stuff! Digital or film?
Greg Campbell
EF5
With the season, such as it was, winding down, it may be time to post some of the year's "catches."
These were all taken from the same overlook in the eastern section of Saguaro N.P. just a few miles down the road from my house. (I was taking care of my terminally ill mom this summer, so long chases were not generally possible.) Camera is an old drebel XT, lenses are Zuiko 28 and 50mm Olympus OM series optics. Pics were all taken during early twilight, when short exposures make digital 'machine gunning' the only practical way to shoot. The colors are not enhanced - I even slightly de-saturated one or two. Mild contrast curve tweaking to emphasize mid-tone separation.
The short chases and bright sky didn't allow much film camera action. I ran only a few rolls through my Bronica and 35mm bodies.
Reddington Pass.
Looking west, across the Twin Hills area.
Looking NW, with the Catalina Mountains in the background.
These were all taken from the same overlook in the eastern section of Saguaro N.P. just a few miles down the road from my house. (I was taking care of my terminally ill mom this summer, so long chases were not generally possible.) Camera is an old drebel XT, lenses are Zuiko 28 and 50mm Olympus OM series optics. Pics were all taken during early twilight, when short exposures make digital 'machine gunning' the only practical way to shoot. The colors are not enhanced - I even slightly de-saturated one or two. Mild contrast curve tweaking to emphasize mid-tone separation.
The short chases and bright sky didn't allow much film camera action. I ran only a few rolls through my Bronica and 35mm bodies.
Reddington Pass.
Looking west, across the Twin Hills area.
Looking NW, with the Catalina Mountains in the background.
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Richard Dickson
EF2
Will and Susan,
Thanks for the kind words as I was particularly proud of these. With the small size that I posted here, you are missing out on a lot of the 'little fingers' of lightning as they were very prolific that evening. My camera is a Rebel XT and most of these were taken using a Canon 70-300mm lens because of the distance across the valley. I didn't edit or enhance them a bit. This would have been a good evening for one of you folks that still use film as you could have had some splendid colors to work with.
Greg,
Congrats! Looks like you had some very good success also with some great shots. I went to the Saguaro N.P. twice this season and managed to chase away the clouds on both occasions.
Thanks for the kind words as I was particularly proud of these. With the small size that I posted here, you are missing out on a lot of the 'little fingers' of lightning as they were very prolific that evening. My camera is a Rebel XT and most of these were taken using a Canon 70-300mm lens because of the distance across the valley. I didn't edit or enhance them a bit. This would have been a good evening for one of you folks that still use film as you could have had some splendid colors to work with.
Greg,
Congrats! Looks like you had some very good success also with some great shots. I went to the Saguaro N.P. twice this season and managed to chase away the clouds on both occasions.
Will Wilkens
Greg, fantastic shots as well! Wow! I am so jealous, as my trip to AZ in July was for the sole purpose to chase and catch lightning like you all did, but we chased away all clouds wnen nighfall approached! It was so ironic, since the week leading up to the day I left for AZ had nocturnal storms nightly... but not during the two nights I was there. 
The camera I used for my shot is a Nikon D40 with a Nikkor 28-135mm DX lens. I was disappointed that I was not able to (yet) get as many fantastic shots this year. The storms I have been on this year were of the HP variety so much of the lightning was embedded and washed out by the rain curtains.
The camera I used for my shot is a Nikon D40 with a Nikkor 28-135mm DX lens. I was disappointed that I was not able to (yet) get as many fantastic shots this year. The storms I have been on this year were of the HP variety so much of the lightning was embedded and washed out by the rain curtains.
Greg Campbell
EF5
Richard, Will, nice pictures! (Any pictures of this year's season are good reason to celebrate! 
) And "curse you!" 
You've both confessed to scaring off the clouds, storms, and lightning. Bah!!
Susan, have you processed and scanned this year's film? Please post when you can!
(If any ST members need weather related slides or negatives scanned, I'd be more than willing to process a dozen or so. Beyond that, time starts to become a factor, and I'd ask for some beer money. I've got a Canon FS4000, a capable dedicated film/negative scanner. It utilizes infrared dust removal and produces 140 MB, 48 bit TIFF files. I recently built a fairly accurate color profile, so the scanner's out-of-box +magenta, -green bias has been largely eradicated.)
) And "curse you!" You've both confessed to scaring off the clouds, storms, and lightning. Bah!! Susan, have you processed and scanned this year's film? Please post when you can!
(If any ST members need weather related slides or negatives scanned, I'd be more than willing to process a dozen or so. Beyond that, time starts to become a factor, and I'd ask for some beer money. I've got a Canon FS4000, a capable dedicated film/negative scanner. It utilizes infrared dust removal and produces 140 MB, 48 bit TIFF files. I recently built a fairly accurate color profile, so the scanner's out-of-box +magenta, -green bias has been largely eradicated.)
Richard Dickson
EF2
Greg,
I can’t speak for Will, but I must confess that our profound shortage of monsoon this year left me with a lot of time to dabble in the black arts. You are correct in recognizing that I am one of the ‘chosen few’ who have the capability to cause storm clouds to quiver in fear and eventually just cower away.
In addition to our local storms, I have been working on obtaining advanced skills with my talent and may chose to do this sort of thing professionally before long. This would be sort of a reverse of the old rainmaker concept. As a preview of my skills, I offer the following: My wife is leaving in about three weeks for a thirty day cruise through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. What is the hurricane count so far this year? Pretty good, huh?
Instead of starting a storm chasing tour company, I intend to offer my services to the city with the highest bid along the gulf next year.
TANK
I can’t speak for Will, but I must confess that our profound shortage of monsoon this year left me with a lot of time to dabble in the black arts. You are correct in recognizing that I am one of the ‘chosen few’ who have the capability to cause storm clouds to quiver in fear and eventually just cower away.
In addition to our local storms, I have been working on obtaining advanced skills with my talent and may chose to do this sort of thing professionally before long. This would be sort of a reverse of the old rainmaker concept. As a preview of my skills, I offer the following: My wife is leaving in about three weeks for a thirty day cruise through the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. What is the hurricane count so far this year? Pretty good, huh?
Instead of starting a storm chasing tour company, I intend to offer my services to the city with the highest bid along the gulf next year.
TANK
Will Wilkens
Richard,
Too funny! But a good chance for you to get some extra $$ for new camera goodies.
Too funny! But a good chance for you to get some extra $$ for new camera goodies.
Susan Strom
EF5
I want to post the link that Phillip Aubin found about the August 14, 1996 severe weather outbreak in southcentral Arizona. (It is re-posted from the "How did you get started" thread in Weather and Chasing).
The monsoon storm of '96 packed 115mph winds and caused the governor to declare northwest Phoenix a disaster area. For those interested in Southwestern Monsoon, here is something worth a read because this was a significant storm in Arizona weather history.
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/wrh/96TAs/TA9627/ta96-27.html
The monsoon storm of '96 packed 115mph winds and caused the governor to declare northwest Phoenix a disaster area. For those interested in Southwestern Monsoon, here is something worth a read because this was a significant storm in Arizona weather history.
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/wrh/96TAs/TA9627/ta96-27.html
Doug Raflik
EF3
After attempting to chase monsoon thunderstorms in 2001 and being in the area during a long down time, I have made plans to try again this year. I will be based in the Tuscon area from Aug 30th to Sept 3rd. Lets hope my luck is better this time around. Some changes from last time... I now shoot with a digital SLR as opposed to film in 2001, and I will have live radar to help out with finding the best storms.
Doug Raflik
Doug Raflik
Susan Strom
EF5
Hi Doug, that window of time is usually one of the better ones. I have my best luck around Labor Day weekend, traditionally. Enjoy, let's hope it's a good one!
