We went through a winter storm yesterday that will be in the record books for the people here in Arizona. The temperatures stayed in the upper 50s but the action of the weather was like many good storms I remember from living in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. The winds kept up for a day and a half with 40mph gusts and the rain poured the whole time, whipping against the sides and roof of the RV. It totaled up to about 3 inches of rain. They never have rain like this down here.
The problem in Arizona is that the soil is sand over a clay hardpan and it absorbs rain about like concrete. As a result there are dangerous problems with flash floods, and pooling water. There are many deep catchments around for regular amounts of run off and usually the rain flows into them and stays there until it harmlessly evaporates. The dog run here at the park is a large area that is also a catchment. It is now full of about 8 inches of water.
There were news scripts running at the bottom of the TV picture all day that told everyone to stay off of the roads and if travel was necessary to not go through any flooded areas. It only takes two inches of rapidly moving water to take a car off of the road and dump it into a deep collection pond. Unfortunately a 6 year old was swept away and has not been found.
The forecast for the next few days is clearing and increasing sun with a chance of a shower on Tuesday.
I noticed that is 36 degrees and light snow today in Powell Butte, Oregon.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, it is 67 degrees and clear in Norman, Oklahoma today. That's crazy. It's warmer in Oklahoma than it is in Arizona. AND we had tornado warning in Arizona yesterday!! Did Don move me while I was sleeping????