starting June with a rainy afternoon
Posted by Zonie on June 02, 2025 at 05:38:53
Years ago Alan Jackson sang a song called "A Rainy Day in June." He associated it with depression. I can see disliking a rainy day in January if one doesn't have a sturdy jacket, but a rainy day in June sounds very refreshing.
In Phoenix June has historically been the driest month. Until today the mean rainfall for the entire month had been only 0.02". We had an extraordinary circumstance. The remnants of Tropical Storm Alvin interacted with a mid-latitude cutoff cyclone. This sometimes happens in early autumn, but it's quite rare this time of year. The morning was cloudy, and the temperature peaked at 90°F, but in the afternoon we received 0.25" of rain, and the temperature declined to 70°F.
I arrived at the Tatum trailhead of the west segment of the Reach 11 Recreation Area at about 3 PM just as the rain started coming down. I was dressed for maximum water absorption with a thick cotton work shirt, my blue denim work overalls, a camouflage ball cap, jockey undershorts, wool socks and my beat-up steel-toed work boots that suitably leak.
The rain came down in big drops so that I could feel it through my clothes, but it came down gently. I slowly got damp, and I was cool enough, but I did wish it would come down a bit harder. There had been other vehicles in the parking lot, so presumably others were enjoying the weather, but I only saw two others myself--two young men, one of them riding a mountain bicycle and another riding an e-bike. They were initially riding over the dirt mound south of the Equestrian Center that had been left behind by the abortive 2019 construction project.
I took a path further north than the one I usually take. The ground was getting damp but not muddy. It occurred to me that the underpass for HWY 51 would be draining water from the road so that, despite the rain being light, there might be a mud puddle there.
When I got there there was a puddle, but it had a gravel base and was shallow so there was no point wallowing, but it was being formed with a vigorous drip from the highway above. I stood under it and managed to drench myself very thoroughly in a few minutes, moving my body around to address dry spots until thoroughly refreshed. The young man on the e-bike paused and looked at me, but he didn't approach or say anything.
I turned back and covered my usual route, and the rain got a little harder. Soon some mud was sticking to my boots, and it occurred to me that maybe the Equestrian Center parking lot was draining into a mud puddle. I headed back there and checked the usual spots, but no such luck. I just wasn't a heavy enough rain, and the ground had been parched with chronic drought and was absorbing it all.
The whole time I saw only one lightning bolt and heard no thunder. It was no storm, just a rain. I backtracked to some other areas that had been muddy in the past. I found no puddles, but I did find a place where I could get my overalls muddy by crawling in the mud.
Despite the cloud cover and my not having taken a watch, it was eventually obvious that night would fall soon, so I headed to the south trail and headed back. There weren't any mud puddles on the south trail, but parts of it were agreeably squishy and some mud stuck to my boots. I got back to the trailhead and drove home muddy and wet and somehow energized. Well it's expected to get back up to 100°F by Thursday afternoon, so I'm sure there won't be any mud there next weekend. It was definitely nice while it lasted!
- Re: starting June with a rainy afternoon Love2GetUWet 08:46:23 6/02/2025
(1)
- Re: starting June with a rainy afternoon Zonie 17:06:40 6/02/2025
(0)
- Re: starting June with a rainy afternoon Zonie 17:06:40 6/02/2025
(0)