Winter Storm Watch Tomorrow Afternoon – Thursday AM
Tucson Weather: Rainfall Reports from Around Town
Rainfall Totals and Counting. UPDATE: Totals from Rainlog.org
Thanx to KOLD’s Meteorologist Erin Jordan for the totals. You can read them here.
Erin also reports that Tucson’s official rain gauge had 1.05″ of rain since midnight (still have all day to go!) shattering the old record of .60″ It’s now the 7th wettest January on record.
Other rainfall amounts range from 1 to 3 inches in the Catalina’s, generally and inch around town. Looks like we had about an inch and a third near the apartment!
UPDATE: Here are the totals from Rainlog.org for the Tucson area. I believe these numbers reflect the last 24 hours ending at 7:00 this morning. Click on the pic for the interactive map. Looks like I had just under an inch here near the apartment.
Most of the rain fell after midnight on the 22nd.
Guaranteed White Christmas
Overton Hotel in Lubbock, Looking West
Thanx to the internets! There is a Christmas Blizzard brewing right now pretty much over Lubbock, Texas’ head. The storm started as rain in California, but brought snow to some areas south of Tucson. The storm sank further southward than originally expected and the forecast for Lubbock changed from rain and some snow to some rain and more snow! Right now the Hub City is covered with about 6″ and it’s coming down sideways. The 7am observation at LBB is: “Snow, Freezing Fog, Blowing Snow and Windy, 26.” I’m jealous, especially since I should have been there had I had a few extra $$s. Thankfully, there is the internets.
This gathering storm is now plowing east. The kids and grandkids north of Dallas are under a Winter Storm Warning and they could see rain changing to snow by this afternoon and maybe an inch or three just in time for Christmas!
Add this snow to what is already on the ground and a large chuck of the U.S. is fixin’ ta have a White Christmas. If you aren’t, then just surf some web cams, put on some Bing Crosby and dare to dream!
Snow Cover early AM the 24th.
Mt. Lemmon Pics from Down Below
Here are a couple of shots I took this morning. Unfortunately, we were on the southern end of the storm that hit, so the snow level was pretty high. About 6,000 feet. So, the 1-2 feet of snow that fell fell mainly on the mountain top. The good news was there was a great fetch of Pacific moisture and the strong upslope wind caused a lot of snow to fall where it did! I’m too busy with work today (that’s a good thing) to make a trip to the snow, but here’s how it looks from below:
Partial Cactus Frame
Taken From Catalina State Park Entrance
Storm Totals for Mt. Lemmon Plus Destruction Video
Mt. Lemmon with a foot of new snow from the storm! KGUN9′s Chief Meteorologist Erin Christiansen points out the snow totals:
Snow in them there hills!
KGUN9 “On Your Side”‘s Joel Waldman spent the night on Mt. Lemmon during the storm and shows us the destruction from the storm. Power could be out for a day or two weeks or somewhere in between.
UPDATE: KOLD Meteorologist Erin Jordan reports Mt. Lemmon received 12-24″ of snow! She also recaps the storm on the KOLD Climate Community Blog.
Audio – On the Vic McCarty Show this Morning
Macker Team 1992? Vic is on the right.
Vic McCarty is a good friend of mine. One of the best and funniest guys you’ll ever meet (if you ever meet him). We used to work together at KBIM-TV in Roswell, NM. I was directing the news back then and he was the Sports Director. Eventually I became the Weather Anchor and I helped sports shooting football and directing the Vic & Van Show in between. Vic and I were also part of the (almost) unstoppable media team at the annual Gus Macker 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament.
Vic moved on to Traverse City, Michigan and I am now in Tucson. Thanx to Facebook and the internets we have kept in touch. He invited me to be on his radio show this morning. It was my 3rd appearance and always fun.
This morning we talked about the storm that blew through Tucson that is heading for Traverse City. Here is the audio of the 6 1/2 minute interview:
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Tucson Weather – What a Storm!
View of the Deck this Morning
It’s 7:42 a.m. as I am starting to type this entry and skies are just now starting to clear. Clouds will move out quickly, but leaving wind damage, as well as much needed rain and snow, in it’s wake.
I don’t have a lot of storm totals yet as far as rain and snow in the area, but the wind reports are dramatic. The National Weather Service office in Tucson reports a 73 mph wind gust early this morning at the University of Arizona campus. A window was reportedly blown in at a business in Sierra Vista thanks to winds gusting to 71. A friend of mine on Facebook says a tree blew into his house in Oro Valley! Now that the Sun is up and news crews are getting out, there should be more reports, and pictures, of what the strong winds did overnight.
The great part of the storm was the widespread rain and mountain snow. The National Weather Service office in Flagstaff is reporting widespread snow totals of 18-24 inches in their area! I’m hoping to hear that nearby Mt. Lemmon got a foot of new snow. I am getting set to record the 7:55 a.m. news cut-in from KOLD-TV to see what they have to say about all of this. I’ll add the video as an update if they have anything cool to report.
Meanwhile, our skies should clear quickly. As the storm moves out, the winds will go with it, but still quite breezy this morning. High this afternoon in the upper 50s. Partly cloudy tonight with a low in the upper 30s. Sunny tomorrow and a little warmer.
UPDATE 8:01 a.m.: KOLD-TV cut-in didn’t have much to say about wind damage or rain and snow reports. Maybe at Noon.
UPDATE 10:54 a.m.: First Alert Meteorologist Erin Jordan reports on KOLD.com that power is out on Mt. Lemmon. She doesn’t have a snow report from them yet, but rain gauges below the snow line measured over an inch and a half. That could mean over a foot and a half of snow at the top of the mountain! Also, I just got the rain gauge reports from rainlog.org from around Tucson. Looks like about a quarter of an inch near the apartment. Some places as much as a half inch in the metro area.
Tucson Weather – Blizzardo! Above 8,000 Feet
mmmm Blizzard
Tucson Weather: Cloudy and windy with a chance of an isolated shower or two this afternoon. High in the upper 50s. Rain tonight with winds gusting over 30 mph. Low in the upper 40s. Showers tomorrow morning with some clearing by afternoon. Windy and cooler. Winds gusting over 30 with a high in the low 50s.
This is one of those mornings where I am up early and my excitement for the incoming storm has me looking up the latest information and staying up! I’ll probably catch a nap before work.
I’m also up early enough to read in the National Weather Service forecast discussion about the Blizzard Warning being issued for the Catalina/Pinaleno and White Mountains for tonight above 8,000 feet before the warning actually comes out probably around 4:30 this morning.
The Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for tonight through tomorrow morning above 6,000 feet. The added component of stronger winds above 8,000 feet has prompted the Blizzard Warning, which the weather service calls, “rare” around these parts.
As the storm gets closer more is known about the storm, The expected snowfall amounts have been tweaked a little. In the Catalina’s expecting about a foot of snow above 8,000 feet, 12-14 inches in the Pinaleno’s and perhaps over 18 inches in the White’s. The snow will be heavy at times with snowfall rates of 2 inches per hour. Combine that with 40-50 mph winds you have yourself a blizzard! (mmmm blizzard)
Down here in the valley, expecting between a half inch to an inch of rain mainly tonight and tomorrow. Winds could gust over 35 mph. Kinda reminds me of Oregon! Unfortunately, winds will be out of the southwest and west, so no driving rain against my north facing window like when I was a kid. I miss that sound.
Tucson Weather – Upgrade
Mt. Lemmon Snow, Dec., '07
Congratulations. Our Winter Storm Watch above 6,000 feet for Monday night and Tuesday for much of Southeastern Arizona has now been upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning above 6,000 feet for Monday night and Tuesday for much of Southeastern Arizona.
The National Weather Service says that “confidence is high” especially since the computer models are in such good agreement and have been for awhile on this approaching storm. A storm system dropping in from the northwest is deepening a trough along the west coast. That is is expected to bring in plenty of moisture and that means rain in the valleys and significant snow above 6,000 feet. Another component of the storm will be the strong winds. That means sideways rain and blowing snow where it’s snowing with reduced visibilities. As they used to say on Hill Street Blues, be careful out there. Snowfall amounts should be significant if the forecast verifies. 6-12″ expected between 6,000 and 7,000 feet. 12 to 18″ expected above 7,000 feet!
Skies are expected to clear quickly Tuesday afternoon/evening and then we get ready for another storm Thursday/Friday time frame. Should be great on Mt. Lemmon! The question will be, when can I get up there? Between storms maybe. That’ll be nice, but even a week from Monday could work. I’ll post pictures if/when I make it up to play in the snow!
