“Tucson Monsoon Season – Finally!”
Sunday, September 20th, 2009
Well…This is my very first blog post.
I was planning to write about the monsoon but we almost didn’t have a monsoon for me to write about. Thank goodness we finally had a terrific monsoon storm here in our Tucson, Arizona. Phew!
Tucson Arizona Sunset
Most folks around here in Tucson have been calling this summer season the nonsoon monsoon!
For those of you who don’t know what a monsoon is, well, it really is just another name for a big thunderstorm with high winds, heavy downpours and a great thunder and lightning show to boot.
The monsoon season or also called monsoon summer typically starts about the 4th of July and ends sometime in mid September.
I just love the monsoon season, there is something so exciting about it!
The monsoon is a time of renewal for the Sonoran Desert and all of the plants and critters that live here in it.
The typical monsoon storm starts building in the afternoon with some lovely big white puffy clouds that keep building up larger and larger over the Rincon Mountains and over Saguaro National Park East. Later on, you’ll notice that the winds will start to pick up a bit, soon you will hear the distant rumbling of thunder.
Douglas Spring Trail Near Saguaro National Park East.
The wind and the clouds continue building, the clouds start turning dark and grey and then the big event occurs with a loud crack of thunder and a grand flash of lightning comes a heavy downpour of rain.
The strange thing is, it can be coming down heavily on one side of town and the other side of town it could be bone dry without a drop of rain to be found. The monsoon storms can also put on the best fireworks show that you have ever seen!
People come from all over the world and stay at our Tucson Bed and Breakfast, just to photograph and paint the Sonoran Desert monsoon storms and the magnificent lightning shows that can accompany them.
When the storm lets up, out come all of the desert critters and birds to rejoice in the life-giving blessed rain.
Monsoon storm at the Saguaro National Park East
For me the very best part is the way that the desert air smells after the rain, so fresh and sweet like that of a wonderful sweet herb.
The wonderful sweet smell comes from a plant called, get this, the creosote bush. Such a terrible name for such a delightful fragrance! They should have named it, sweet desert herb or something nice like that instead.
More to follow soon,
Tucson Innkeeper
