The Uneventful Monsoon of 2011

09.26.2011 - Late September marks the end of monsoon season here in the Southwest and while the last few days looked promising, hardly any rain fell for most of the Valley. My handy rain gauge displayed 0.00 inches of rain which was a common occurrence for cities like Tempe, Avondale and North Phoenix. On the other hand, some parts of Arizona had incredible storms, including many flood warnings up in the high country. In addition, 2011 was a record for fire season. In this year alone over 1 million acres of forest in Arizona burned to a crisp. Any sort of measurable rainfall in the northeast portion of the state led to flooding and mudslides.

This was the first monsoon season in 7 years that didn't destroy at least part of our yard. In 2010 a microburst knocked over one of our palo verde trees and dropped 2 inches of rain in 40 minutes. The pool had to be partially pumped out, washes overflowed and we had a bit of minor flooding. This year, the best we had was a hearty 5 minute soak which quickly cleared out. A 55 mile per hour wind gust ripped a neighbor's large Chilean mesquite right from its trunk. It caught the wind like an umbrella and flew about 10 feet into our driveway. Thankfully there was no structural damage but we know how upsetting it can be to the homeowner that loses a beautiful, mature tree.

The big story this year was the dust. The enormous Phoenix dust storm in early July made world headlines, shut down the airport, closed streets and wreaked havoc for those of us with pools. Cleaning piles of sludge out of your swimming pool in 115 degree heat the day after is something most of us could live without.

As a result of the very dry monsoon season (which is when we typically get at least a third of our annual rainfall, sometimes more) the area never had a chance to enjoy some cool, post rain temps that we all look forward to so much! In August there is nothing better than a late afternoon soak that results in low 80s temperatures for the rest of the evening. That's patio weather!