Monsoon weather.....what to expect and when to expect it? (Phoenix: tornado, work)

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by El_Waiboi

I am not from Arizona, and when I first arrive, everyone talked a whole lot about the "Monsoons"...Anyway, I got excited and was expecting something out of this world, like a real supernatural phonomenon...However, what I now understand is this: Since it hardly ever rains here in Arizona, they consider a thunderstorm a "Monsoon"...Think of it like this:

"Monsoon" in Arizona Terminology = "Rainy day" in the other 49 states lol

So yeah, its cool, but don't get too excited.

Hey, don't rain on our parade! Regular storms don't have the wall of dust or the amount of lightning. More people die from lightning strikes here a year than other parts of the country (google it).
Give us something!lol
Oh, and all kinds of bugs from miles away get dropped into your yard, like giant beetles, during the storm. Sometimes if I leave my umbrella up it goes sailing by my window like were having a tornado! LOL: It's the only weather disturbance every year, sorry, but I do get excited and it's not just me, no no, you should see the weather man for channel twelve news, he's so excited he almost pees his pants! LOL

[topjimmy]

Do we still have a monsoon?

[Boatdrinks]

Aside from the humidity and dust storms, monsoon is awesome! We so rarely get rain here that I miss it and look forward to the storms.

Microbursts can be rough and leave some serious damage in their wake, and dust storm are dangerous to drive in - think heavy fog with wind - you can't see far in front of you and the wind is really strong.

The great thing is that, like summer storms on the east coast, usually they move in around 4-ish (late afternoon), blow through and are gone fairly quickly and we're back to blue skies.

No need to be worried. After a couple years here with almost constant sunshine, you'll start looking forward to cloudy days and thunderstorms.

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by topjimmy

Do we still have a monsoon?

This is the big year, I can feel it!lol

[yukon]

Pictures are awesome, look like desert hurricanes

[Magnum Mike]

I love it when a good monsoon rainstorm hits, you'll get that cooler breeze after the storm. The bad thing about that is, when the sun comes out the next day, it'll be very humid from all the moisture, but the high temperature will be down.

I'm definitely looking for a decent monsoon also, we need it.

[nitram]

Monsoon is described as a seasonal shift in the winds. The winds that usually blow through here are from West to East. This time of the year the jet stream is farther north of the area and it allows a shifting of the winds. That is when the winds shift from So East to No West and they stir up a huge dust cloud that can reach as high as 1000 feet and travel completely across the state, usually around 35mph. With this wind comes high humid moisture drawn from the Gulf of Mexico.
Monsoons generally occur late in the afternoon and last about an hour or so. Sometimes visibility is down to zero. If driving pull way off the road and keep your foot off the brake, so no one runs into you, untill it clears up again.

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by nitram

Monsoon is described as a seasonal shift in the winds. The winds that usually blow through here are from West to East. This time of the year the jet stream is farther north of the area and it allows a shifting of the winds. That is when the winds shift from So East to No West and they stir up a huge dust cloud that can reach as high as 1000 feet and travel completely across the state, usually around 35mph. With this wind comes high humid moisture drawn from the Gulf of Mexico.
Monsoons generally occur late in the afternoon and last about an hour or so. Sometimes visibility is down to zero. If driving pull way off the road and keep your foot off the brake, so no one runs into you, untill it clears up again.

Yes, please do pull over and keep your foot on the brakes so lights are bright behind you. The people who don't pull over are the ones in trouble. Since the timing of the monsoon is usually at rush hour after work a lot of people try to beat it home, bad idea, it's like a minnie sand blizzard. The bad visibility only lasts minutes.

[HX_Guy]

I thought it was the oppsoite...that you're actually supposed to pull over as far as you can and turn your lights off, so that other cars dont follow you and think you're still driving, then end up rear ending you.

[nitram]

HX_Guy is correct. The DPS says to pull over as far as possible, turn off all lights, keep your foot off the brake so not one follows you and starts a chain reaction by running into you.