Southwest Storm Is A Wet One!!

[azskyman]

I wouldn't have done it, but some forecasters were posing the possibilities of 1"+ rains here in the Phoenix area for the last 2-3 days, long before the precipitation arrived.

While time, movement, and dynamics will tell whether this widespread rain event will bring heavy rains over most of the area, it is an unusual sight today to see rain falling without much break and widespread low cloudcover scurrying across the city of Phoenix from the SSW.

So far not much wind associated with this system, but some gustier and more unstable conditions will likely move in later today into tomorrow morning. And that could even bring claps fo thunder.

This is a warm event at most all levels, so snowfall is really limited to the highest peaks above 9500'. Still, it's kind of fun to see predictions of 8-12" of snow in those places.

My rain gauge needed a good cleaning. This seems to be the event that will do it.

[Andrew92]

Yeah, it's raining fairly decently where I am about three miles north of downtown Phoenix. No signs of flooding but then I haven't been out today, but it was pretty humid last night.

Some areas are reporting about an inch an hour in the metro area.

-Andrew92

[RattleMan]

Here in Tempe, there is a massive amount of rain. I'm loving it.

[RattleMan]

In the end it rained non-stop for THIRTEEN HOURS here...wow!

[azskyman]

For the 24-hour period ending 5 am this morning, I measured a hefty 1.96". That's double what I've had since May 15th!!

Some areas measured over 2", and a few scattered showers remain to the west and southwest, but the heaviest should be over.

Still, a nice rain for a parched region.

Between the widespread nature of this storm and the very heavy snows north of our border into Colorado, watersheds should be filling a little bit over the next day or two.

[tropicana]

Record Rainfalls for Fri Nov 30 2007

San Diego CA 0.73 inches
Anaheim CA 0.93 inches
Phoenix AZ 1.23 inches
Ontario CA 1.51 inches
Wild Animal Park CA 1.68 inches
Vista CA 2.00 inches

-justin-

[CajunMama]

Glad to see you are getting some much needed rain. Phoenix had a deficit of -4.61" before the rains and Flagstaff had a deficit of -9.27.

[azskyman]

Had another .29" the last 24-hours for a total of 2.25" here. Checked out the web cam at Sunrise Park Resort just 30 minutes east of Azsnowman...and it snowed pretty hefty there most of the day into the night. A good start on the ski season, and a good start on building up our watershed supply in the mountains of AZ, UT, and CO!! We really need that!

[Aslkahuna]

TUS NWS reported that valley locations in SE AZ averaged 1-3 inches from the storm with 3-5 inches in the mountains (that's rain not snow). The road to Mt. Lemmon is closed due to rockslides and there is wnd damage in Summerhaven at the top. Windfield dynamics in the moisture plume were impressive with ridgetop winds at H7 well over 50kt. As the winds came around to the SW, the downslope flow punched through the raincooled boundary layer and gave us the strongest Huachuca Mountain Wave windstorm in years with the Post gusting to 68 mph and the Hereford area seeing gusts to 76 mph (those living in the Canyons probably saw over 80 mph). Here at the house, the trees limited me to 42 mph but scattered light damage around the area suggests gusts in unsheltered areas probably were in the 55 mph range. The models are going for a similar system in about a week.

Steve

[wxmann_91]

It rained here off and on for about 18 hours on Friday. Great storm. Left all the reporting stations around me with around 2" of rain (that's almost as much as we got entire last winter). Southern portions of San Diego county got less with around an inch in most locals. To the north along and north of the SR-78 corridor, rainfall amounts were much greater, with over 2.5" in Oceanside and Carlsbad, 3" in Vista, and in the mountains, nearly 7" at Palomar Mountain. Yes sir, the wettest storm I've seen in a LONG time (maybe since the 04-05 rainy season).

A complete list of rainfall totals:

RAINFALL STORM TOTAL SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
900 PM PST SAT DEC 1 2007

RAINFALL TOTALS FROM 12 AM FRIDAY NOVEMBER 30 2007
TO 10 PM SATURDAY DECEMBER 1, 2007

ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL AREAS

FULLERTON AIRPORT 1.17
HUNTINGTON BEACH 0.78
JOHN WAYNE AIRPORT 1.18

SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS

OCEANSIDE AIRPORT 2.77
CARLSBAD AIRPORT 2.77
SAN DIEGO LINDBERGH 0.94
BROWN FIELD 0.89
MONTGOMERY FIELD 1.61
VISTA 3.12
MIRAMAR 1.97

SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTY VALLEYS

CLARK 1.96
CRANSTON 2.63
RIVERSIDE MARCH 2.31
CORONA 1.78
MURRIETA 2.96
TEMECULA 4.21
DEVORE 1.07

SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS

ALPINE 2.29
FALLBROOK 3.07
RAMONA 2.66
RANCHO BERNARDO (NWS) 2.70
SAN MIGUEL 1.60
POTRERO 1.40

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS

BIG PINE FLAT 2.37
WRIGHTWOOD 1.74
CLEVELAND FOREST 4.10
CONVERSE 3.33
FAWNSKIN 2.49
HESPERIA 1.74
LYTLE CREEK 3.03

RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS

ANZA 3.41
IDYLLWILD 3.87
KEENWILD 3.84
PINE COVE 3.73
SANTA ROSA PLATEAU 3.91

SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS

FREMONT CANYON 1.52
EL CARISO 2.95


SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS

CAMPO 1.76
DESCANSO 2.74
JULIAN 3.52
MT. LAGUNA 2.66
OAK GROVE 3.19
PALOMAR MOUNTAIN 6.85
PINE HILLS 3.91
RANCHITA 2.11

APPLE AND LUCERNE VALLEYS

HESPERIA 1.27
APPLE VALLEY 1.57
VICTORVILLE 1.22

COACHELLA VALLEY

PALM SPRINGS 1.52
THOUSAND PALMS 1.33
THERMAL 0.84

SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS

BORREGO SPRINGS 0.88



PG

[azskyman]

Looks like another round of showers headed to the Southwest this coming weekend.

Again, it is only Tuesday morning and forecasters are already talking about significant rainfall again. This will be a colder system than last weekend's, so if I were to add my two cents, I'd suggest rainfall may still be significant, but with not so many widespread 1.5-4" totals. And snows will be more common above 5,000' especially on Saturday.

All in all, a good start to winter for those of us who need periodic rainfall to fill our reservoirs and take some pressure off the drought.

[RattleMan]

And here comes the rain! It began around 4:30p here in Tempe and has not let up since.

[azskyman]

For the 24 hours ending 5 am Saturday (12/8), I measured another .79." It was raining at the time of the measurement, so I anticipate at least a few hundredths more as sporadic showers continue.

Looks like we won't be out of the unsettled pattern for a few days, so an inch or more from this system seems likely once again.

Not good for the snowbirds and tourists who come here to enjoy our sunshine, but extra nice for the rest of us who know we need the rain.

Besides, the eateries, casinos, malls, and other dry places will gladly greet you and welcome you to Arizona!

[azsnowman]

Steve, wet INDEED!!

Since last Saturday, I've registered a WHOPPING 8.81" of rain, can you BELIEVE that, for this time of year, it's UNHEARD of!

Now, I had over 4" of that fall Friday night into Sat. morning then late Saturday morning it turned over to ALL snow! Wound up with 8" of wet, slushy snow however...there's a WHOPPER coming in tonight (Sunday) with over a 12" expected into Tuesday night!! VERY unexpected but VERY, VERY welcome moisture indeedy!

[RattleMan]

Hehe, a little bit of humor in the latest AFD:

FXUS65 KPSR 100407 AAA
AFDPSR
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION....CORRECTION FOR SNOW LEVELS IN DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
900 PM MST SUN DEC 9 2007
SOUTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA
FORECAST DISCUSSION

.SHORT TERM...
HOUSTON WE HAVE ANOTHER PROBLEM. VERY HEAVY RAIN COULD BE IN THE
OFFING AGAIN FOR SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH
MONDAY EVENING...BEFORE SNOW LEVELS BEGIN TO FALL. AND...SINCE
BETWEEN 2 AND 4 INCHES OF RAIN FELL OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF
SOUTHERN GILA COUNTY FRIDAY NIGHT...FLOODING IN SOME OF THE WASHES
AND CREEKS COULD BE HIGHER THAN FRIDAY NIGHT/EARLY SATURDAY MORNING.
LET US EXPLAIN.

[...]

A SECOND STRONGER AND COLDER STORM (THE OLD ONE TWO PUNCH) WILL
SUBSEQUENTLY MOVE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL AZ TUESDAY TO RENEW PERIODS OF
LOWER ELEVATION RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW.

http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/data/raw/fx ... fd.psr.txt

[azskyman]

He snowman, it looks like a couple "feet of snow" just up the road from you at Mt. Baldy and Sunrise. That's great news heading into the coldest and darkest part of winter. And we love to know that the upstream watershed areas on and above the Rim have plenty of moisture too. Now all we need is for Colorado and Utah to have record winters snows and valley rains, too. That may be a turning point in the long turn drought.

[azsnowman]

Hi Steve!

Yeah....Sunrise Park Resort received 36" of fresh powder, while I received 10" on the level with 24-32" drifts! I just blew one driveway, taking a break then it's on to the LONG driveway! Stay tuned for photos!

[azskyman]

Here's an NWS summary up until midday. Sunrise Ski Park is reporting 44" and still falling right now. Showers and some thunder here in the Valley, so you will have more snow through the night! Looking forward to those pictures, Dennis!

A STRONG WINTER STORM WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE AREAS OF MODERATE
TO HEAVY SNOWFALL ACROSS EAST CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ARIZONA TODAY.
EXPECT ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OCCURRING ABOVE
4500 FEET OVER NORTHERN GILA COUNTY...ABOVE 5000 FEET OVER THE
MOGOLLON RIM...THE WHITE MOUNTAINS AND PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST
ARIZONA.

THE FOLLOWING ARE PRELIMINARY STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL REPORTS FROM
FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON..

ASH FORK..................... 5 INCHES
FLAGSTAFF.................... 12 TO 17 INCHES
FOREST LAKES................. 28 INCHES
HAPPY JACK................... 26 INCHES
MCNARY....................... 12 INCHES
SNOW BOWL AT 9500 FEET....... 26 INCHES
SNOW BOWL AT 10800 FEET...... 35 INCHES
SUNRISE MOUNTAIN............. 14 INCHES
WILLIAMS..................... 8 INCHES
WINDOW ROCK.................. 4 INCHES

[azskyman]

Another .39" of rain yesterday, so we are in good shape for the moment. A break in the action for perhaps a week, here, will be nice. And I know that there have been very good snows in the mountains, as well.

Hoping for some good rains in the SE US in the days ahead...beneficial in so many ways like ours.

[azskyman]

Another 2.46" of rain on Sunday into Monday morning, so this winter has been quite the wet one here in the Phoenix metro area. I'm over 3" of rain for the month of January so far.

As you can tell by postings from azsnowman to the north along the Mogollon Rim and White Mountains, there has been an overabundant supply of snows and rains up that way too.

One more nice dose before Spring Training season in March and we should be in great shape heading into the summer.

But don't need any more 18" snowfalls up north or 2" rainfalls here in the valley.