Meteorologists and others in the know love to confound newbies to the American Southwest by telling them that a monsoon is not a storm. Rather, monsoon is a seasonal shift in wind. This shift does tend to bring some mighty violent weather with it, however.
Serious monsoons occur in India and in much of Mexico. Acapulco averages 51.8 inches of rain during its summer monsoon and just 3.3 inches the rest of the year. Arizona and New Mexico are on the fringe of the Mexican monsoon. Much of the year, winds there blow from the west or northwest. During monsoon, they bring moisture up from the southwest, from the Gulf of Mexico and the tropical Pacific.
The monsoon creates thunderstorms and rain erratically. A storm can dump an inch or more of rain in one location and leave another area, just a few miles away, dry.
Credit: Dreamstime
Arizona and New Mexico are on the fringe of the Mexican monsoon. Much of the year, winds there blow from the west or northwest. During monsoon, they bring moisture up from the southwest, from the Gulf of Mexico and the tropical Pacific.
Arizona and New Mexico are on the fringe of the Mexican monsoon. Much of the year, winds there blow from the west or northwest. During monsoon, they bring moisture up from the southwest, from the Gulf of Mexico and the tropical Pacific.
No comments:
Post a Comment