For Tuesday the 17th, we had made plans for multiple errands in Phoenix and spent the day there. We left Prescott in the morning around 8:30 a.m. and got back around 9:00 p.m. Monsoon season has hit Arizona. This what Wikipedia has to say about the monsoon season:
The North American monsoon, variously known as the Southwest monsoon, the Mexican monsoon, the New Mexican monsoon, or the Arizona monsoon,[1] is a pattern of pronounced increase in thunderstorms and rainfall over large areas of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, typically occurring between July and mid September. During the monsoon, thunderstorms are fueled by daytime heating and build up during the late afternoon-early evening. Typically, these storms dissipate by late night, and the next day starts out fair, with the cycle repeating daily. The monsoon typically loses its energy by mid-September when drier and cooler conditions are reestablished over the region. Geographically, the North American monsoon precipitation region is centered over the Sierra Madre Occidental in the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Durango, Sonora and Chihuahua.[2]
We have been having monsoon rains nearly every day since the start of the month of July. Saturday the 14th, the rain and wind was so heavy and strong that the large doors at Habitat ReStore bent inwards. Even with blankets as dams at the base of the door, rain was blown inside - we used two wet vacuums, a mop with wringer into a bucket and a squeegee to push the water back towards the door. While that was an unusually strong wind, thunderstorms with strong winds are the norm and cause flash flooding - much of that is due to the land not being able to absorb the rainfall.
In any event, on our Tuesday evening drive back from Phoenix to Prescott, there was a lot of lightening to our north - but to the west, we had a beautiful sky as the sun set.
Where we are renting is in an interesting neighborhood. To the west side of the street we are on, there are some of the granite dells - areas with expensive homes built in, around and on top of the granite boulders and hills. Besides the nice views, an obvious advantage of being up in those rocks is that you are not in any danger of flooding. On the east side of our street, there are both Miller Creek and Wilcox Creek, plus low, flat land where flash flooding is a risk. Fortunately, our rental is not in the lower part of the land. That means on the east side there are less expensive homes and denser populations in multifamily rentals and condos. Besides the Coalition for Compassion and Justice thrift store just south and east of our rental, there is a church a block north and east of us.
On the church exterior, there are two interesting posters. One welcomes immigrants and refugees.
The other states, "We affirm that all lives matter but we proclaim that Black Lives Matter because racial injustice in society continues to reflect that they don't." I am glad to see both signs publicly exhibited and this congregation willing to voice their opinions.
This photo shows some of the expensive homes built in the granite dells to our west.
Thumb Butte is the hill on the left - it looks close, but it is actually over a couple rolls of hills and is much farther away from us.
Here are some examples of the construction on the west side of the street, where they have built beside, on top, around and even cutting into the large granite boulders in the dells.
I was always taught that the three most important things in real estate are location, location and location. Upper elevation makes for bigger and nicer and more expensive homes and businesses.
The North American monsoon, variously known as the Southwest monsoon, the Mexican monsoon, the New Mexican monsoon, or the Arizona monsoon,[1] is a pattern of pronounced increase in thunderstorms and rainfall over large areas of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, typically occurring between July and mid September. During the monsoon, thunderstorms are fueled by daytime heating and build up during the late afternoon-early evening. Typically, these storms dissipate by late night, and the next day starts out fair, with the cycle repeating daily. The monsoon typically loses its energy by mid-September when drier and cooler conditions are reestablished over the region. Geographically, the North American monsoon precipitation region is centered over the Sierra Madre Occidental in the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Durango, Sonora and Chihuahua.[2]
We have been having monsoon rains nearly every day since the start of the month of July. Saturday the 14th, the rain and wind was so heavy and strong that the large doors at Habitat ReStore bent inwards. Even with blankets as dams at the base of the door, rain was blown inside - we used two wet vacuums, a mop with wringer into a bucket and a squeegee to push the water back towards the door. While that was an unusually strong wind, thunderstorms with strong winds are the norm and cause flash flooding - much of that is due to the land not being able to absorb the rainfall.
In any event, on our Tuesday evening drive back from Phoenix to Prescott, there was a lot of lightening to our north - but to the west, we had a beautiful sky as the sun set.
Where we are renting is in an interesting neighborhood. To the west side of the street we are on, there are some of the granite dells - areas with expensive homes built in, around and on top of the granite boulders and hills. Besides the nice views, an obvious advantage of being up in those rocks is that you are not in any danger of flooding. On the east side of our street, there are both Miller Creek and Wilcox Creek, plus low, flat land where flash flooding is a risk. Fortunately, our rental is not in the lower part of the land. That means on the east side there are less expensive homes and denser populations in multifamily rentals and condos. Besides the Coalition for Compassion and Justice thrift store just south and east of our rental, there is a church a block north and east of us.
On the church exterior, there are two interesting posters. One welcomes immigrants and refugees.
The other states, "We affirm that all lives matter but we proclaim that Black Lives Matter because racial injustice in society continues to reflect that they don't." I am glad to see both signs publicly exhibited and this congregation willing to voice their opinions.
This photo shows some of the expensive homes built in the granite dells to our west.
Thumb Butte is the hill on the left - it looks close, but it is actually over a couple rolls of hills and is much farther away from us.
Here are some examples of the construction on the west side of the street, where they have built beside, on top, around and even cutting into the large granite boulders in the dells.
I was always taught that the three most important things in real estate are location, location and location. Upper elevation makes for bigger and nicer and more expensive homes and businesses.
