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Monsoon!

10K views 196 replies 17 participants last post by  PBH 
#1 ·
Looks like it may have arrived in southern Utah. Thunderstorms and rain this afternoon. Hopefully we see enough precipitation in it to offset the lightening caused wildfire starts.

I really miss the smell of rain.
 
#44 ·
I got wet.....I was up at the cabin trying to get a couple of things done while watching it come in. I tried to get one more hummingbird feeder refilled and waited too long.
Ended up getting nailed. Had to sit in the cabin and watch it rain.
Was great, best storm this summer so far.
It let up for a half hour and i got out. A little muddy, but not too bad.
Was starting to rain hard again as I came home across the top.
 
#46 ·
A big problem with the heavy rains is that it doesn't really soak into the ground. It comes down so fast and just runs off of the top surface to the creek or river in the drainage system and then hopefully if you have a reservoir downstream into it.

To really help the aquifer you need a nice gentle rain that goes on for hours that really soaks into the ground.
 
#49 ·
sounds like a number of people in Enoch decided to store a bunch of water in their basements. :confused:

that storm yesterday was a pretty wild ride!
 
#58 ·
We got hit hard at my house, but only for about 10 minutes. Then it backed off and just rained for a while. I had a nice lake around my house this morning.

Watching doppler last night, there was a huge orange blob over Minersville. I commented this morning to a co-worker that storms like this will certainly help the water situation at a reservoir that size. Will it be enough to put the restrictions back in place (AFLO)? I doubt it. To be honest, I'm not too worried about it. We're going to lose some fish - whether by angler mortality or by water temps / oxygen depletion -- but the long term affect will be a positive, assuming we get some water over this coming winter. Assuming we get good water, the reservoir will rebound quickly! The bonus will be that whatever fish make it through this summer will grow FAST over the winter and next spring resulting in some BIG fish. Couple that with appropriate stocking, and we'll be back to having a great fishery next year.

But we need water.
 
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#59 ·
(I worry more about the ATV crowd at Minersville than the PB crowd!)
 
#63 ·
3-6" is crazy. I watched the radar develop and was shocked. These storms are rather late in the day for the monsoon and producing epic amounts of precipitation.

I'm sure I could welcome a few young folks into our small house and introduce them to the realities of raising an infant. Maybe show them my book collection. Show them the ways of homemaking. I have no problem getting help getting chores done. Maybe listen to a podcast together. 😁
 
#64 ·
It's always hard to know what's influenced by climate change but whatever the case "it seems" like these erratic events are happening more often. Definitely could be biased and wrong on that but it's tough not to be curious with sad disasters like this:

 
#65 ·
While I don't believe we/science have a full grasp on the phenomenon, it seems to me that the hard "deniers" are increasingly living with their head in the sand.

I was heartened to see Rep. Curtis from good ol' Utah start a "climate caucus" of like minded moderate/conservative legislators to support a more reasoned political response than what we have been getting from some on the far right.
 
#67 ·
Ya it's been raining all afternoon. The mountain has been pounded. We were up on Summit a couple of hours ago and it was pouring. We could not even see Cedar or Cedar Mountain.
Enoch got pounded twice today.

Also......Pinto has had flash floods warnings two different times today. And Lund got drilled hard again.
 
#69 ·
I came down to Cedar and went up the Mountain for the first time this year last weekend. Weird year for me. I was expecting the worst, but the mountain didn't look nearly as bad as I thought it might be considering the severity of the drought situation. I saw a bachelor group of about five 2 to 3 year old bulls and a few small bucks. They all looked to be in pretty good condition! Looking out across Crystal it looked like some light rain was starting to come down over your way. Dark clouds were starting to roll in and the smell of petrichor (tip of the hat to MrShane) was in the air.
 
#73 ·
I think it's fair to say I'm not the type to give credit to a politician for a typical weather pattern appearing.
If all this is just “a typical weather pattern” then why the heck were people so critical of a perceived lack of action? All he had to do is just wait for the typical weather to get here.

I would impeach you with your prior written statements on that one! Bring on more rain.
 
#74 · (Edited)
Are you arguing the monsoon is not a "typical weather pattern"? Persistent drought is the divergence from that pattern over a long period, as it negatively impacts typical expectations and behavior of the region. If expecting Cox to behave accordingly is justification for my impeachment than count me in as a willing volunteer.

If you are going to hold miracles as a standard of analysis than we are operating in different intellectual galaxies. We might as well point that out early in your criticism. And yes, the self-own you just had about "all he had to do is just wait for the typical weather to get here" is exactly why relying solely (see below) on prayer as a government policy and request isn't valid approach to conservation and management of public resources.

The scientific approach would be to talk about the odds of a monsoon forming before and after Cox's request. If I remember correctly, NOAA's climate model found an equal chance of potential precipitation outcomes. That would be a simple bet in Vegas if I were a politician.

As to the reason we criticize... there is no harm, water-wise, but significant benefit to escalating the state response to our persistent drought. Yes, we are still in a long term drought and will be no matter how significant one monsoon is. His response to admitting what we were doing wasn't enough was to solely ask citizens pray. His speech and executive action is the public record that supports that accurate summary. He's since incorporated prayer into other actual measurable action/policy but it's still not enough as our reservoirs empty.

I voted for Cox but I find criticism of a political figure's mistakes not only fair game but also a fundamental way of pressuring them into better action. He's done "better", on this issue, but barely. Cs may get degrees but they don't exactly instill confidence that our government is doing what's necessary to protect our public water during this persistent drought.

I expect better even with the development of a good monsoon pattern this far. You seem content with his behavior. We simply diverge there and that is fine.
 
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