Rain - Finally

Late yesterday afternoon it finally rained here.  Oh, there's been slight showers and even a few minutes of real rain, but my area finally got the first real rain since last year.  It started a little after 5PM and lasted a couple of hours.  There was a period of thunder and lightning with heavy, wind driven, rain.  The next morning my rain gauge had recorded an inch and a quarter.  This was a real desert monsoon gully washer.  It was GREAT.

I know, this isn't news to anyone.  This happens reasonably often in the Southwestern desert and isn't considered any big deal - except, this time I was measuring the temperature during the storm.  Below, is a snapshot of the temperatures before and after the storm.  Notice how the temperature was over 110 F when the storm started and dropped to 75 F as the rain progressed.  That's a temperature drop of 40 F, all the way down to something reasonable and comfortable.  I don't remember that kind of fluctuation in other places I've visited.

Of course though, it got up to 105 F today, and as the moisture evaporated from the ground, the humidity shot up.  Now, I remember why I hated Louisiana in the summer...