Monsoon arrives with splash and crash

The monsoon arrived on Friday with an intense downpour — just like the TV weather folks promised. I think my home was located right under a huge cloudburst because the wind was as intense as the rain which fell in sheets, not drops, as you can see in the photo, above. The U.S. weather service reported the next day that my neighborhood received .28 inches of rain. It felt like much more!

So Saturday morning I went out to see the result of the storm and here is what I saw.

In my back yard I discovered that the Mourning dove had survived the storm with her baby! Mourning dove nests always look so flimsy but this one kept its shape as the branches whipped around in the wind.

Going north along the Santa Cruz River

Next I went downtown where I saw that this old mesquite had toppled across the path beside the Santa Cruz river just north of Congress. And there was more to come.

A few months ago the city began dumping “Reclaimed” water into the Santa Cruz River but it had just greened up a narrow strip in the center of the dry river bed near downtown. I had hoped after the Friday downpour to find water flowing in the river. All the trees looked greener, but that is because the dust was washed off. The river bed looked pretty much the same. No flowing water.

A dam crosses the river bed as it flows north and there did seem to be some more water behind and below it. And looking more closely I noticed that dead grass was crushed down in a northward direction. So perhaps during the Friday downpour there actually was water in the river, but it either rushed away or disappeared into the soil. I hope it was the latter. The water table in Tucson is dropping at a rapid rate. This storm — if followed by many others–should help replenish the source of tap water for the city.

Looking south at the Rillito Riverbed

On my way home I stopped at St. Phillips Marketplace and took this photo of the Rillito riverbed. Again no flowing water, but the dried mud gave evidence that water had rushed under the Campbell Ave. bridge the day before.

And in the St. Phillips’ parking lot was more evidence of high winds and rain. This tall eucalyptus crashed down into the SUV. Several other trees had crashed down, too, and the debris was being cleaned up fast.

The official monsoon season in the U.S. Southwest begins June 15th and ends September 30th. During that time in an average year about 6 inches total rain will fall, breaking up the typical daily temperatures of 100F (37 Celsius). Last year was catastrophic for more reasons than Covid 19; only 1.5 inches of rain fell during the 2020 monsoon season. This year is predicted to be rainier.

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Rivers and streams run northward in Tucson. The Santa Cruz River runs into the Gila River which runs through Phoenix and goes across the desert to enter the Colorado River. As of last month the Colorado River again empties into the Gulf of California. For decades it has simply stopped short as the water sank into the sand.

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