MONSOONS: Elevations OR Location? (Phoenix, Tucson: tornadoes, living in, dangerous)

[Arizona Bound]

Hi all...
Been reading up on the seasonal monsoons. From what I have read, it
seems the further south, southeast area's of Arizona get it the worst. Does
the elevation of a city/town come into play with the monsoons? We have been
in many storms.. thunder/lighting storms, snow/ice storms, and severe wind storms.
I was wondering about the sandstorms that come along with the monsoons. I have
seen a few pictures of them that look very severe and very intimidating/scary.
How does Mohave County fare when it comes to these seasonal sandstorms/monsoons?
Thanks!

[43Quid]

I fear someone has misled you. The Arizona version of a monsoon is a good thing, not something scary. If you happen to be out on a golf course or something, you might have some reason to be wary of the lightning, but these storms are not like hurricanes or tornadoes. They're just short, heavy downpours that wash the heat and dust out of the air just when we need it. When they result in destruction at all, it's usually of something ramshackle that was on the verge of collapse all along. I think most Arizonans love 'em, and would not really want us to be without them.

[Ponderosa]

Yes. Monsoons are great. There aren't sandstorms - the big clouds in the pictures are dust. Both elevation and location factor in. The farther southeast the more frequent they are. They are also frequent, almost daily, in the mountains north and east of Phoenix. Sometimes these storms "slide off" the mountains into the deserts. The lower deserts have the most violent ones because of the rapid temperature change but they are less frequent. Monsoons are few and far between in far SW Arizona, but they do occur, primarily near mountain ranges.

[LordBalfor]

Yeah I agree that the monsoon storms are AMAZING - and we LOVED watching them. It IS true however that they CAN be dangerous. During one of the storms when we were in Tucson last July/August 3 people were washed away in their cars and 2 of them drowned. The issue dangerwise is that the rain comes down so hard so suddenly that it can't soak in and instead becomes flash floods. The winds can also be very violent (power was knocked out to much of Tucson for several hours).

Still, they are wonderful to watch and really freshen the air and cool things off.

As a general rule these storms are highly localized and usually start off over the various small scattered mountain ranges then fan out from there. In SE Arizona this means they start out over the Catalinas, Whetstones, Rincons etc in the late afternoon and evenings with the result that there are scattered storms about but not over EVERY range EVERY night.

Ken

[drb85650]

And in central Phoenix the monsoons are terrific. No rain, but terrific. Blowing down palm fronds everywhere, dust all over the place. Guaranteed to occur immediatly after washing the car.

Lord B is right, the southeastern part of the state, specifically Sierra Vista/Fort Huachuca area gets incredibly beautiful storms over the Huachucas.
But really, compared to the midwest thunderstorms, all we really get is wet a little.

[Arizona Bound]

Hey guys... you guys should be able to give a good explanation on this??

Been reading up on the seasonal monsoons. From what I have read, it
seems the further south, southeast area's of Arizona get it the worst. Does
the elevation of a city/town come into play with the monsoons? We have been
in many storms.. thunder/lighting storms, snow/ice storms, and severe wind storms.
I was wondering about the sandstorms that come along with the monsoons. I have
seen a few pictures of them that look very severe and very intimidating/scary.
How does Mohave County fare when it comes to these seasonal sandstorms/monsoons?
Is the sand/dust storms really that bad in Kingman?
We have spent a few winters in Arizona and Nevada, just have not been there durring
the windy dusty summer monsoon season. The thunderstorms are of no concern...
but the dust/sand storms is what we really want more info on.. Thanks!

[adventuregurl]

Monsoons are one of my very favorite things about living in AZ and I missed them when I left for a few years. I am up in Sedona and they are great up here. I think they get much less rain in the Phoenix area with their monsoons.