Heavy Cloud No Rain


First sprinkling in several weeks a couple of days ago.

Flagstaff is in a very dry period, which is normal for this time of year. We had a very short sprinkling on Tuesday. It lasted only about 3 minutes or so, just enough to wet surfaces and raise the distinctive pungent smell of a rain after a period of drought. In the southwest, you will hear people say, "It smells like rain," when a storm is approaching and you catch the scent on the wind.

The trails and forest roads continue to be bone dry and covered in "moon dust." It gets into everything and I have to walk directly into the shower immediately when I get home from trail running every time, sheets of dirty water circling the drain.

There is another slim chance for rain this weekend and then more dry until the monsoon arrives. The National Weather Service says the leading indicator is water temps in the Gulf of California, and those are not quite high enough yet. Likely we will not have any significant rain until after Independence Day.

It brings to mind this old song by Sting.

"We look to the sky
But we look in vain
Heavy cloud but no rain"

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