A little OVEREXAGGERATION for the Southwest...

[AnthonyC]

I know there's been abundant rainfall in the southwest these past few weeks, but I think some news stations are overexaggerating the extent. Just this past week, I was in Phoenix and was expecting heavy rain, thunderstorms and flooding all week. Out of the five days I was there, it only rained substantially one day...granted, that one day it rained alot!! But every top story on the local news was about the wild weather. Honestly, and maybe it's because I'm from Seattle, it wasn't anything spectacular or wild. There were a few passing thunderstorms from time to time and a little rain at night, but nothing that would warrant every news station to make it their top story. I think California took the brunt of the storm, but Arizona...at least Phoenix...was not that bad. I still say it was a little overexaggerated.

Anthony

[Aslkahuna]

Phoenix averages under 10 inches of rain a year so when they pick up over an inch in one day it's a big deal there.Not to mention that what Phoenis gets in rain is usally significantly less than what places like Scottsdale and the mountains to the north and east of the city gets. Tucson is the same way-the official reporting station at the airport may get 0.3in of rain while areas on the NE and NW sides of town may get closer to 3 inches.

Steve

[azskyman]

Anthony...indeed we have a way of overstating our weather events when they do occur. Remember, the most normal weather event here is sunshine. 317 days of it.

Still, even as a resident of Scottsdale, I often chuckle that rain and flooded streets are the top news story of the day...ahead of the Pope, the war in Iraq, local accidents, and shootings.

People often forget that unlike more predictable places to live where wet years and dry years still have rain...here in the desert, wet years can be VERY wet all at once followed by dry years when every passing cloud wanders by without so much as drizzle on the windows.

There is daily overexaggeration...but there is something to be said for the fact that I have over 11" of rain in the last 4 months!

Reminds me of all the times the local news back in Illinois would advise against people traveling during a winter storm of any kind.

I was kind of disappointed today. Only .12" and some pretty good storms to the north and east as Steve mentioned!

[azsnowman]

I know there's been abundant rainfall in the southwest these past few weeks, but I think some news stations are overexaggerating the extent. Just this past week, I was in Phoenix and was expecting heavy rain, thunderstorms and flooding all week. Out of the five days I was there, it only rained substantially one day...granted, that one day it rained alot!! But every top story on the local news was about the wild weather. Honestly, and maybe it's because I'm from Seattle, it wasn't anything spectacular or wild. There were a few passing thunderstorms from time to time and a little rain at night, but nothing that would warrant every news station to make it their top story. I think California took the brunt of the storm, but Arizona...at least Phoenix...was not that bad. I still say it was a little overexaggerated.

Anthony

Well Anthony, MAYBE you should have come to Pinetop and HELPED me keep flood waters away from MY HOUSE....then and MAYBE THEN, you would have changed your mind SIR!!

Dennis

[azsnowman]

As they SAY...."A picture is worth a THOUSAND words!" Well Sir, here's MY proof....I'm SORRY, but our STORMS have NOT been OVER Exagerated!

http://community.webshots.com/album/272434852KFdfuZ


Dennis

[vbhoutex]

Simply stated here the problem is one of perception. We had 1.48" of rain today in Houston and most of that was in one hour. That caused minor street flooding and some inconvenience for some folks here. That kind of rain happens in Houston probably a couple of times a month. In Arizona, that is considered a deluge and can actually cause massive flooding. Probably happens once every few years in the Phoenix area. Overexaggeration? No, perception.

[R-Dub]

I think there are a few different factors here, some places have recieved more rainfall then others, azsnowman region has gotten hammered! But other places like were you were Anthony not so much. Also there soil simply can't handle that kind of precip. Here in the Seattle area the soil (and people )are "trained" and that kind of rain isn't a big deal, but in AZ its a HUGE deal.

[Aslkahuna]

Actually, 1.48 inch rainfalls are not that uncommon in AZ-problem being that they can occur in 30 minutes or less-which can cause some real problems. In July 2003, parts of SV got over 2 up to 4 inches of rain in 20 minutes-that's a rainfall rate of 6 to 12 INCHES/HOUR! That storm sent a 7 foot wall of water down a wash where it caught and killed a woman who was driving across the wash as the wall hit. It's not how much rain that falls but how fast that's the problem. Most of the time Seattle gets light rain that falls over days and adds up quite a bit, but let Seatlle get a two inch dumper in less than an hour and see what happens-that's what has been happening in parts of the SW US recently.

Steve

[andrewr]

There are a few microclimates around the Seattle Area that do get very heavy persistant rain. Earlier this year one place next to the Olympic Mountains picked up 12+ inches of rain in one day. Also last year a place in the Cascades got 4" of rain in 30 minutes (thunderstorm) which caused a flash flood, but nothing was around except for a ranger's station. Although for the most part you are correct and it is a lighter rain in the Seattle Metro Area.

[Aslkahuna]

Microclimates abound in AZ and for the same reason-mountains. During the big November 11,1994 dumper here in SE AZ, I measured 3.5 inches in one day while Palominas/Hereford about 8-10 miles south got 6 inches and the Coronado National Memorial 12 miles south and on the windward side of the Huachucas got 8-10 inches. When Olivia came through in October 2000 the windward side of the Huachucas got close to 12 inches of rain in one day. Same for the Phoenix area where the mountains were seeing 3-6 inches/day while the valleys were getting 0.8-.15 inches-Snow is up in the mountains and I know he got dumped on.

Steve

[weatherlover427]

We had 7.4 inches at my locale from the last storm. Mind you that's over the course of a whole week, so it had some time to add up; but there were points at which it was pouring buckets and buckets like you would not believe.

[azskyman]

Of course the media does like to play up the impact of such storms when they can, but I surely didn't mean to paint the picture that the Southwestern storms of the last 10 weeks were neither significant nor newsworthy.

Several deaths did occur in this state as a direct...and I mean DIRECT result of high water and flooding. Also, insurance companies who must play claims for property damage do not work off perception...they work off of real losses. And those are in the millions of dollars in this state.

Additionally, last I heard there had been 21 weather-related helicopter rescues during just the recent rains...each of which is both expensive and risky.

For sure, raindrops all by themselves make big news here in Arizona...and to the extent that most people suffer inconvenience, not life threatening situations as a result, there is some overexaggeration of the events.

In the end, however, the record books will tell the story...as will the studies and evaluations of just what happened here during this particular winter.

Meanwhile, the sun is out and things are green for this weekend....and that is not an exaggeration at all!

[azsnowman]

Here it is in black and white.........

http://www.wmicentral.com


Mother Nature delivers record rainfall to Show Low





By: Jessica Evans, The Independent 02/25/2005





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Andy Towle, The Independent
Excess run-off stops for few obstructions as is winds its way downhill from the Show Low Lake spillway. The view is looking north behind the new Mountain Park townhomes on Show Low Lake Road.
SHOW LOW - Storms sweeping across the state brought record rainfall totals to Show Low on Tuesday.
The 0.62 inches of rain recorded breaks a 22-year record of .45 inches set for the day in 1973. The city broke another one-day precipitation total on Feb. 19 when a record 0.81 inches fell, shattering a record set for that day at 0.52 inches in 1993.

That the area is receiving record-setting precipitation is likely not surprising to Show Low residents and visitors. The city has seen more than 2 inches of rain fall in the area this February. Soil saturation combined with days of heavy rainfall have caused area creeks and washes to swell and some area lakes to run over spillways.
Since Feb. 18, storms have dropped over an inch and a half of rain on the area, with rain and snow forecasted for another week.
The amount of rain forecasted has caused some rumors of road closures. Despite stories to the contrary, Lone Pine Dam Road, connecting State Routes 77 and 260, is not in danger of being closed as a result of rainfall.
Water behind Lone Pine Dam is standing at 52 feet, well below the dams 65 foot capacity, Navajo County hydrologist Tom Hieb said.
"We're still quite a ways below the spillway," he said. "There is no plan at the moment to close it because of the water level."
Hieb said Lone Pine Dam Road was closed because of water running across the roadway in 1993, and that the possibility does exist that a closure would be needed if heavy storms move through the area and raise water levels.
"It is a possibility, but I don't foresee that at the moment," Hieb said.
This February, though a wet one, is nowhere near the record for the wettest February in Show Low. In February 1980, over five inches of precipitation hit the area. On Feb. 8, 1994, Show Low received 2.07 inches of precipitation, a record 24-hour total for the month.
The wettest winter on record for the area is Winter 1993. That December through February period saw 13.15 inches of precipitation at Show Low Airport. Winter 2005 precipitation totals are still incomplete, though preliminary data shows four inches during that time period. January observations are largely incomplete, however, and that precipitation total may rise as those numbers are recorded.
All this rain comes on the heels of the region's driest summer according to the National Weather Service. Summer 2004 saw a record low of 2.31 inches fall in Show Low.
Average monthly precipitation for Show Low in February is 1.40 inches and in March the average is 1.35 inches.
Precipitation in Show Low is at its highest usually during the summer months when monsoon conditions bring an average of 6 to 7 inches of rain to the region over a two to three month period.
The city's highest 24-hour precipitation was observed on Oct. 29, 1974 when 2.38 inches fell at the Show Low Airport. August 1988 was the wettest month for Show Low. The area received over 9 inches of precipitation that month. The year with record setting annual precipitation for Show Low was 1978, with 30.21 inches.
Annually, Show Low receives an average of around 18 inches of precipitation, about a third of which is seen during summer monsoon storms.

[Aslkahuna]

That's the difference between Show Low and the San Pedro Valley. At my house, I average 17.58in/year of which 10.88 falls during the monsoon. This same distribution carries over to most other places in Cochise County. For the Record, I'm NOT the wettest locale in the local area. That honor goes to places like Bisbee, Hereford, Palominas, Coronado N.M. and the area around Canelo, Elgin and Sonoita.

Steve