Finally - Some Rain Here

View of early morning snow cover (above) up in Summerhaven; bottom shows a dreary, damp morning on campus, with heavy clouds hanging on the Catalinas.

Composite radar image above was from 5:30 am MST this morning, as area of showers was moving across northern parts of the metro area.

ALERT rainfall measurements - north part of network above and south below. Amounts were generally light, except in and north of the Catalinas where there were several sites with over half an inch. Here at house there was finally rain in the gauge this morning - 0.13" at this time.

The TWC sounding plot this morning shows saturated conditions up to about 650 mb, with dry air above - winds were very strong with a number of levels over 100 kts. The 500 mb chart below shows the strong winds and that the trough line is out along the western border of Arizona. temperature gradient is very strong - Las Vegas -30 C compared to -12 C here at Tucson.

The 06 UTC GEFS plumes for rain at the airport (second below) indicate chances for showers ending by mid-day - amounts were a tad conservative, as the airport has received 0.12" so far. About half the plumes indicate another chance for showers late on the 14th, the other half of the forecasts say this morning is it for the rest of week. Regardless, very good to have some measurable rain after 70 consecutive dry days.