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| Arizona is notable for desert landscape. |
Some parts of Arizona experience 5 seasons per year: summer monsoon, autumn, winter, spring, and fore summer drought. From July to September is the rainy season. November through February are the coldest months of the year with an average minimum temperature 60 degrees F. Then finally from May to July are the hottest months of the year with temperatures ranging from 90-128 degrees F with little or no rain.
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| Chart shows the temperature and precipitation of Arizona throughout the year. |
During the summer monsoon, from July to September, Arizona experiences a summer rainy season with an annual rainfall of 13 inches. During this time a "tropical air mass adds humidity and moderates June's extreme temperature." With the hot moisture in the air along with rising unstable air, creates lightning and thunderstorms.
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| Rain in the Grand Canyon. |
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| Hot moisture air along with rising unstable air creates lightning and thunderstorms. |
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| As the cold air descends, the moisture air condenses and produces Valley Fog. |
With the presence of a thunderstorm, comes a dangerous feature, the haboob, a huge dust wall. As air descends from a thunderstorm, it then crashes into the ground creating an enormous gust front. These haboobs are usually found in desert regions. Even though downward movement of air may not seem to be a problem, it can be quite dangerous to nearby planes. The rapid wind can cause planes to descend, which can be hazardous during times of takeoff and landing.
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| Diagram of a Gust Front. Taken from Professor Allen's ppt. |
Works Cited:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/23/183526432_7f3477b1ef.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthewphx/183526432/&usg=__SZFPjOqDUm1BCuJaMIff5OlreT0=&h=375&w=500&sz=198&hl=en&start=0&sig2=tWmKOjAP1xuHTe3tk3yJcg&zoom=1&tbnid=FlawBKKnle-QGM:&tbnh=154&tbnw=225&ei=whaeTbzGCYa0vwPIlcTABA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Darizona%2Bdeserts%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D810%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=759&vpy=131&dur=962&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=123&ty=134&oei=whaeTbzGCYa0vwPIlcTABA&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0
http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate.php?location=USAZ0077
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/51/171020876_ef413286bf.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/jwoodphoto/171020876/&usg=__nttrVxiHrTNYdjqfdHsQhQ08gyc=&h=336&w=500&sz=57&hl=en&start=0&sig2=HZkpSRBOii6XJV-iYY_Liw&zoom=1&tbnid=ABG3Mzmvd9z4UM:&tbnh=158&tbnw=183&ei=-hyeTaKtCIOWvAPi4rXEBA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgrand%2Bcanyon%2Bthunderstorm%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D8ub%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D810%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=99&vpy=94&dur=542&hovh=184&hovw=274&tx=213&ty=71&oei=-hyeTaKtCIOWvAPi4rXEBA&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGS/Shared/StaticFiles/Photography/Images/POD/l/lightning-grand-canyon-nichols-983558-ga.jpg&imgrefurl=http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photos/best-pod-june-08/lightning-grand-canyon-nichols_pod_image.html&usg=__iPusKb73hsEnNMBDF6iTsHkbo2w=&h=325&w=470&sz=40&hl=en&start=0&sig2=3isFqat07VL-v-vPz4HApQ&zoom=1&tbnid=dmQ45hyaB5BUiM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=213&ei=8hyeTa25BJCSuAOV8ZG2BA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgrand%2Bcanyon%2Blightning%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3D4Zw%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D810%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=141&vpy=94&dur=2258&hovh=187&hovw=270&tx=230&ty=149&oei=4xyeTazVK4OWvAPi4rXEBA&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0
http://fast.ucdenver.edu/case/1202/Climate/Weather/gustfront.gif
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TH_4lL_DjE&feature=related
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://sdpemail.com/roadtrips/GC/Gr%2520Can%2520view%2520fog%2520and%2520clouds.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sdpemail.com/roadtrips/GC/grandcanyon.html&usg=__VG37CbW7WJzODNfzhhH_c68hbTo=&h=685&w=1024&sz=496&hl=en&start=42&sig2=WKhjKpx11YNOs2sDrMvGBA&zoom=1&tbnid=8Gi7oNYMJ3a7sM:&tbnh=148&tbnw=205&ei=miGeTeLgAYSsugPTmIC7BA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgrand%2Bcanyon%2Bfog%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D810%26tbm%3Disch0%2C1824&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=568&vpy=186&dur=1480&hovh=184&hovw=275&tx=185&ty=143&oei=diGeTZeYJIy0vgPo7_SqBA&page=3&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:18,s:42&biw=1280&bih=810
I never knew Arizaon had 5 seasons, I thought they only had 1, too hot! The winter season (if thats what you want to call it), sounds perfect around 60 degrees. However, those other seasons are too dramatic with the monsoon and 128 degree summers. Although those pictures of the thunderstorm look great, they are very deceiving since they really only add to the extreme weather. I would have to say humidity is the worst! To top it off, haboobs after thunderstorms makes me question why anyone would want to live in Arizona? Great job on the blog post, you did a wonderful job showing how extreme Arizona's desert weather can be!
ReplyDeleteGreat job on the blog. You had a lot of content in there and you did a very good job describing each season (never knew it had 5!) and backing it up with photos and charts. However I am a little confused on why only July through September is the rainy season because it seems like it would be July though March according to your chart. Keep up the good work!
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