Such a great monsoon season this year

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Most people find the creosote smell when it rains in the desert to be a pleasant one. Many, including me, love it but that might be because of the promise it holds of rain. If you get a hankering for it during a dry spell, you can pinch a couple creosote leaves between your fingers and it's instant monsoon!

My neighbor wanted me to plant a creosote bush on the side of the house that faces me, and, true or not, a Creosote bush can kill any plants within 10 feet of it.?

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by tijlover

And down here in Tucson, we get, on an average, 10-12 inches a year. 2 years ago we got 13 inches.

The hard definition of a desert is 10 inches or less a year of precipitation.

That's actually the loose definition. The hard definition of a desert is a location that has an annual rainfall amount that is less than half the evapotranspiration rate. That's determined by multiplying the annual average Temperature (in Celsius) by 20, then add a number based on distribution of Rainfall, if between 30 and 70% of rain is during the high sun half of the year (April-September for the Northern Hemisphere) add 140, if less than 30%, add 0, or if more than 70%, add 280. Then divide the annual rainfall (in millimeters) by the sum. If the number is 1 or more, the climate is humid, if it's between 0.5 and 0.99, it's semi arid, and if it's less than 0.5, it's arid/desert.

Phoenix as an example=

24.1°C X 20= 482
39% of Phoenix's rainfall is between April and September
So add 140 to 482, and you get 622
Phoenix's annual rainfall is 183.64 mm
183.64 ÷ 622 = 0.295, which is less than 0.5, so Phoenix is desert

Tucson as an example=

21.4°C X 20= 428
58% of Tucson's rainfall is between April and September
So add 140 to 428, and you get 568
Tucson's annual rainfall is 268.99 mm
268.99 ÷ 568 = 0.473, which is still less than 0.5, so Tucson is desert

Reno is an example of a place with less than 7" of rain that isn't a desert=

12.3°C X 20= 246
28% of Reno's rainfall and snowfall is between April and September
So add 0 to 246, and you get 246
Reno's annual precipitation is 186.69 mm
186.69 ÷ 246 = 0.759, which is between 0.5 and 0.99, so Reno is semi arid

[HX_Guy]

Thats interesting, thanks for sharing.

[pantstofry]

Originally Posted by wase4711

its monsoon time, dude..humidity from feb-june was between 3-10% almost every single day..

Isn't it dew point that typically defines mugginess? I.e. less than 55 is pretty comfortable and it's been in the 40s much of the time until now where it's 60-65ish.

I've been loving that despite rain storms the dew point still hasn't gotten above 65 and the temp stays lower anyway. It's muggier but to me still plenty comfortable. I'm all in favor of more rain!

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by pantstofry

Isn't it dew point that typically defines mugginess? I.e. less than 55 is pretty comfortable and it's been in the 40s much of the time until now where it's 60-65ish.

I've been loving that despite rain storms the dew point still hasn't gotten above 65 and the temp stays lower anyway. It's muggier but to me still plenty comfortable. I'm all in favor of more rain!

Dewpoints were over 70°F last weekend

[Katera]

We got 3" of rain in 24hr here in Sun City Grand. It was great! Irrigation system turned off

[Bondurant]

I guess it's great so long as you're not in Miami.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by Bondurant

I guess it's great so long as you're not in Miami.

I don’t think it’s mutually exclusive

That’s a sad town these days

[Prickly Pear]

I wish it was coming back!

[ajonesaz]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

I wish it was coming back!

It is supposed to be, next week is supposed to be a wild one. Moisture from two hurricane systems in the Pacific will impact us. Good rain and damaging winds are to be expected. You heard it here first