RAIN!!!

It’s a beautiful thing when the desert gets rain, and rain we got! It’s been brewing for several days. A big upper level low has been spinning off the coast of Baja California. That has been sending lots of tropical moisture northward into Arizona. Thursday, November 29th we had some light rain and cloudy skies. The best thing about the light rain is the smell. The desert just smells so awesome when it rains! The best thing about the cloudy skies is I get to drive with my moon roof open :-)

Friday, the low started moving our way. As it got closer, our rain increased in coverage and intensity. By the time I was driving home from Church last night it was pouring!!! I made the mistake of taking I-10. I will admit I was going a little too fast for the conditions. When it rains here, it runs off everywhere, including the freeway. There were a couple of places the water was a bit more intense then I anticipated. The first time, I was passing an SUV and it must have hit some extra water, because the rooster tail it threw on me caused me not to be able to see AT ALL! Thankfully, it was only temporary. A bit further down the road I hydroplaned worse then I ever have in my life. MANY times I have hydroplaned, but they have always been brief and no big deal. I stay off the brake and steer and no sweat. Last night took a little longer to get control back. Nothing bad happened. I didn’t go out of my lane. But my heart did speed up a little bit!

Once I got off the freeway, the driving conditions improved with some notable exceptions. There are lots of “dips” in the roads here. During heavy rain events, these become creeks and streams! I had to ford several on the way home. Most no more that a couple of feet deep. I’m glad there was traffic ahead of me so I could see what I was getting into :-)

I LOVE the rain! The drive was a nice adventure, although I will slow down on the freeway next time. I think I was a bit overconfident because of my past rain driving success. I think I had extra problems last night because it was night. Much harder to see the hazards.

I’m not sure how much rain we received, but I’ll be surprised if it was less than an inch. We can always use that kind of rain around here! Unfortunately, the snow level was too high for snow on Mt. Lemmon, although we may see some snow up there today. Probably not much though. Hopefully next time!

UPDATE:  2.25″ of rain reported near the apartment!