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IF this is monsoon season starting .... are the monsoons always so sporadic?
I am not there and haven't been for a year now, Towanda, however, I can say with certainty that what you are experiencing is NOT the start of the monsoon season.
The US Southwestern monsoonal season does not kick in until generally the 2nd or 3rd week of July. Sometimes a few days earlier, sometimes a few days later, but not this early.
I experienced a few stormier-than-usual Junes in my time in ABQ and I noted - especially the longtimers - would start to automatically click into "here is the monsoon" mode, but climatically they just were inaccurate.
Upon simple review of your current humidities/dew points/relative humidities, storm patterns (and similar patterns in other Southwestern locales like El Paso, Tucson, Phoenix, etc. - different climates than ABQ or Santa Fe but those that also experience in the monsoon as well) and it is apparent that the monsoon isn't "there" yet.
So, storms/rains, etc., are a bit unusual for this time of the year, indeed, but it isn't the monsoonal pattern.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Towanda
Is it normal to see storms all around us .... but day after day not get any rain??
OK, I will "fast forward" this question ahead to say, oh, July 20 when the monsoon will likely be in occurrence!
Upon the study of weather/climatic history, along with my own personal experiences in 5 summers in ABQ (4 as a resident, one as a visitor), the monsoon just varies quite a bit. Indeed, some monsoons you'll get a really relatively daily stiff dosage of rain for a few prolonged periods. Other years you'll barely get anything. The monsoon some years can be wet and roaring, other years, it can be a dud.
It really depends. *On average*, the monsoon in ABQ drops about 5-to-6 inches of rain (contributing to ABQ's grand total of an annual 8-9 inch total); however, obviously some years are wetter than average in the monsoon, and some year much drier. I have experienced both - the monsoon of 2006 being super-wet, but the 05 one being very dry.
Wish I could send the rain we've had. Today is actually sunny. I decided rather than complain too much about our rain, that I should enjoy it while I have it.
On a down side, my lawn needs mowing...the grass has to be a foot tall.
Moderator cut: Posts by Towanda and Cathy4017 deleted; inappropriate topic for New Mexico forum.
There is less rain/moisture/snow in southern NM than there was in earlier years. I could usually count on going skiing every winter at Ruidoso if I wanted....that's not true anymore. More often than not over the last 10 years, it seems like they have poor seasons.
Skiing on rocks isn't very much fun, I don't think...
Its pretty sunny here in the East Mtns as well. The wind is picking up, but, really, when is it ever down out here? Rain would be so welcomed. I have a buffalo grass lawn in its infancy stage (started from seed a few mos back) and additional buffalo grass plugs just planted yesterday to fill it in.
First of all: Global Warming talk is a rat-hole. Don't start. It will pull people out of the woodwork and it won't be pretty. Leave that for the [Green Living] forum or the [Politics and Other Controversies] or some other "Argument Clinic"
I'm not kidding.
Second: The monsoonal flow will show up on nightly TV news radar as flows of moisture from the South. The last moisture we just experienced was all coming across from the NW. The clouds "looked" like monsoonal clouds though.
1970s July 2 ++ 1980s July 6 ++ 1990s July 3 ++ 2000s July 7
We need some sort of saying like with corn: "Knee high by the fourth of July"
for the monsoon like : "No longer dry by the fourth of July"
I'm not sure that's going to stick though, so other ideas are encouraged.
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Not the monsoon
