Today's Forecast...

So the forecast today is for a high of 106 and a low of 81 with Relative Humidity of 54%. The Dewpoint is at 61 which of course means that a thunderstorm is possible at anytime. We're still in Monsoon season, although we haven't had much rain here for the last few summers. I remember the first year we moved here. I heard the weather guy talking about Monsoon as if it were a long lost relative who showed up once a year to irritate the family. You know, the long lost son who comes home looking for free food and money and immediately leaves once he gets what he wants. Anyway, "Monsoon" is a living breathing entity that is apparently deserving of this sort of treatment. That first year of living in Arizona was filled with some serious storms. The first one I had the pleasure of experiencing was in May of that year. It was early in the year for Monsoon to rear it's ugly head, but it did, and it did it with vengeance.

It hit about midnight and woke my wife and I up in a state of panic. Our master bathroom has glass block windows in the corner and I could have sworn the paparazzi was in my bathroom taking rapid fire photos of me and my wife in bed as if they had caught us in the act or something. The glass block windows made the lightning outside seemed light flashcubes popping off left and right. Then a clap of thunder came that shook both of us right out of bed. I went and looked out the front door and our street looked like a raging river. The rain came so hard and fast that there was 3-4 inches of water flowing down the street in a matter of minutes. The strange thing was that it was flowing slightly uphill! The streets here in Arizona are graded to slope towards runoff areas to prevent flooding from the storms that we get, only the wind was so fierce that night that the flow of water was going the wrong way. After we were finally able to get back to sleep, we awoke the next day and assessed the damage.

The wind had brought new patio furniture from of of our neighbors yards. I'm serious, we had a new umbrella, and two of those cheap plastic chairs in the yard. My bar b cue cover was gone so I guess that was the item traded for the new chairs and umbrella. Honestly, I would have preferred to keep the bar be cue cover. Anyway, lets just say that we were both questioning our move the next morning. What had we gotten ourselves into?

We would go on to have some pretty major storms once we actually entered Monsoon season and we got a repeat performance the next summer. It's kind of interesting watching your expensive palm trees bend over almost touching the ground with their tops. Seeing the water creep up to your back door is always fun as well. We haven't really had much from Monsoon in a few years. A couple of small storms here and there, but not much in the way of rain. I actually found myself missing Monsoon these past few years, wondering when he would return to unleash his wrathful storms on us. Afterall, there's nothing like a morning after a good Monsoon. The dust and debris left in the wake of a Monsoon can be pretty interesting.

What does this have to do with cycling you might ask. Nothing. And then again, everything...