8.11.2006...The MONSOON!

For all you folks who have visited Tucson (or haven't) and have seen those perpetually dry washes that look as though they've been built by a stranded and confused martian, we bring you...the MONSOON!



The day after the first night of rain. All of these pictures are of the Rillito Wash.



Gee, look, the washes really do hold water.



Still the first day. Kind of nice and gentle. Wonder if any creatures suddenly spawn at the first sign of water in the wash?



After the second night of rain. If there were any creatures, they'd be half way to California by now. all the remaining pictures are after the second night of Monsoon rains.



These walkways were washed out all along the Rillito. Believe it or not, more than one jogger was stranded and had to be rescued.



I was surprised these bridges didn't sustain any serious damage from the scouring.



This was a record water flow (cfgs) from these storms.



Lots of flotsam floating by.



I wonder if these high tension poles were designed to withstand this force (30,000 cubic feet per second?). None came down.



Lots of amazed Tucsonians. A number of younger ones proclaimed they had never seen water flow like this.



And it flowed VERY rapidly.

In days gone by, many of these washes were said to flow year round. Due to city expansion and increasing water consumption, almost all of these washes are dry...except during the MONSOON.