The simplistic Ken explanation of monsoon: High pressure has to be over the four corners of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah during the summer. This creates a circulation that draws a tropical moisture pattern from Mexico. The resulting weather is called monsoon which has much higher than normal humidity during hot summer temperatures, thunderstorms (mostly afternoon and evening) which are sometimes severe, and interesting looking clouds in skies that are largely clear most of the year. The locals seem to look forward to it every summer.
Monsoon also creates an opportunity for some interesting pictures. If you've read my blog in past summers, I've shot photos of monsoon every summer when it gets stormy.
Monsoon started a little early this year (typical start is around July 4). I've already shot a few photos.
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| Storm clouds rolling into Tucson as seen from the north side of the KGUN 9 building |
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| A light shower as seen from my backyard |
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| Wind, rain and clouds looking north from my backyard |
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| Wind pushing against this tree as seen from my backyard |
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| Rain hitting the ground in my backyard |
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| Interesting looking clouds starting to building mid-morning looking north next to my house |
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| Storm clouds on the horizon looking south from the KGUN 9 building |
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| 1:00 a.m. photo looking southwest from my backyard. This has a retouched look but it's unaltered right out of my Sony RX100 camera |