Living in the Central Desert of Arizona, one of the most exciting weather patterns we see is the Monsoon.

With temperatures reaching 115, we often hear "at least it's a dry heat" but in July and August, we often experience the humidity and near storms that makes being outside almost unbearable.

When the dew point reaches 55 degrees for three days in a row , they say we have entered monsoon. This is usually followed by daily build up of storms. We can wake in the morning to clear skies, then by noon have high temperatures and humidity, and in the evening have the storms build only to disappear without dropping any rain.

Often the Phoenix Metro area can have several storms going at once, some parts of the valley can have no rain, while other parts can have several inches in a very short time. These storms often bring heavy brief rain, dangerous lightening, damaging winds, and are gone before they have a chance to move on.

I have seen trees blown over on one side of the street, while the other side shows no sign of a storm. The rain can some fast enough to flood streets, yet leave most of the city dry. The sky can light up for hours with lightening, yet the storm never arrives. Arizona does have exciting weather, and no two days are alike. Personally we have had no more then a little shower of rain at our house this year, yet the city I live in reported over an inch the other day.

If you are interested in learning more about Arizona's unpredictable weather, or the weather in general, please visit one of my favorite places to watch the weather on the web.