Rainy Season Unleashed With Fury

Above, the monsoon season brought out interesting and plentiful wildflowers. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Until this year's monsoon season (June through September) kicked in, we were pretty parched in the Southwest.

Once it did kick in, it seemed as if we'd be needing to build arks.

Spectrum News posted an article on this year's monsoon, which turned out to be the best one in years.

They begin it with:

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — After two bone-dry years that sank the U.S. Southwest deeper into drought, this summer's rainy season unleashed with fury.

Monsoon storms have brought spectacular lightning shows, bounties of wildflowers and mushrooms, and record rainfall to the region's deserts. They've also brought destruction, flooding streets and homes, and leading to some swift water rescues and more than a dozen deaths.

It's a remarkable reversal from 2019 and 2020, when the annual period known simply as “the monsoon” left the region parched. The seasonal weather pattern that runs from mid-June through September brings high hopes for rain, but the moisture isn't guaranteed.

“That traumatized a lot of us here in the Southwest, really worried if the monsoon was broken,” said Mike Crimmins, a climatologist at the University of Arizona. “And then here 2021 monsoon comes along, and it’s almost like we’re trying to make up for the last two seasons.”

Will this year's monsoon season mean that we'll be having heavier snows this autumn and winter? We shall see.

To read the full article and see a photo gallery, go here.