A So Cal Girl in the Desert

I've been trying to absorb as much information about the weather here as I can because although it's sunny just like So Cal, it's much different. For one, I don't ever remember it being 115º in the Los Angeles area. So glad it's dry here, because humidity would be the death of me. When I was in New York in the summer time several years ago, I really thought I wasn't gonna make it. This is dry heat, which really does make a difference despite all of the clichés. So this morning I go out to take my dog for a walk at about 8 AM, and it feels pretty damn humid. I notice my neighbor's newspaper, so I check out the headline "Heat Toll Hits 8 as Monsoon Nears." So, yeah, 8 people have died in this "heat wave" we're having. Leave it to our family to not only move to one of the hottest places on the planet in the middle of summer, but to do so while that place is experiencing a heat wave. Since I'm above stealing my neighbor's newspaper, I go online to www.azcentral.com, which has a link to the daily printed paper. Sure enough, the evening news was right. A monsoon is on the way. I have been able to determine that the high heat levels (currently 8 days in a row over 110º...I guess that's a big deal) contribute to a raised "dew point." To my knowledge, Southern Californians aren't concerned with dew point, though I've been known to live under a rock at times, so I could be mistaken. So the dew point is pretty high right now. 55 yesterday. That really means nothing to me. They could tell me the dew point is 5 or 155. I just know it's pretty high, and they also reported that a dew point of 55 for three consecutive days along with temps over 110º means a monsoon. So that's the formula! I think.

I've been checking my weather widget like twenty times a day, and it keeps saying sunny, sunny, sunny infinity. When I went online today, the weather forecast says a chance of thunder storms every day this week. Hm. I guess surprises are nice. Only problem is, I'm not sure how concerned about this monsoon I should be. I guess like any unfamiliar natural occurrence that has the potential to cause damage, it puts a slight fear in this here newcomer. I never really thought much about earthquakes in CA, so why should I worry about monsoons? I've heard that they can be weekly occurrences during this time of year, so they can't be that bad, right?

A friend who used to live here described them as really cool. He said that the sky is super clear, then you see this huge wall of really dark dust approaching (um, sure that's cool). Then when it gets to you, it just dumps water like crazy and there's tons of lightning, and everything floods. The monsoon is in a really isolated area, so you could see one, but not be in one, I guess. But you still have to be really careful, especially in the wash areas, because a flood from a monsoon far away can come right through a wash near you. That's how kids get hurt...playing in the wash on a clear day...a big no-no.

The landscaping in Arizona is interesting because most of the dwellings are elevated. For example, just outside our apartment building is a path at ground level. Then there is this large grassy area that makes a sharp bank down into a basin. It's a great place to take the dog for a potty break, but I bet it's like a lake after a monsoon. We're having a new home built, and that house has a wash area right behind it. Of course, the site is elevated. It should be pretty neat to see water rush down the wash during monsoon season.

By the way...today marks our one week anniversary of being in Arizona! Does that make us Zonies, yet?