This is not our usual weather for sunny Arizona. How does 49 degrees feel like 33 degrees? I went outside today to take photos. It does feel cold. I wore my heaviest coat.
I struggled to come up with something to post, which is not like me. I realize it’s because after coming home from our Christmas Hawaiian trip, both my husband and I got sick. I’ve been down for several days. Not much has been happening in my life.
It was hubby’s birthday this week and we cancelled our birthday dinner plans with our friends from Palm Springs who moved one mile from us in Arizona. They called several times to see how we were feeling. Finally, the scoop was that they are taking their kids on a cruise soon and they don’t want to get sick. We decided to postpone the birthday dinner celebration. If we are contagious or aren’t contagious and they get sick in the next few days, what is the upside?
We did take out Chinese at the only decent Chinese restaurant around us and spared strangers from our coughing fits!
Here are some photos I took of our gray day:
The view out my office window. It’s difficult to see through the rain drops.
Our crocodile. It looks like he enjoys the weather.
Looking out the front door.
Our backyard aliens or geckos left by the previous home owners. I know they are geckos, but they look more like aliens to me.
The first year we were here, we had snow! This coyote was playing in the snow and ended up on our wall!
A coyote hanging out on our wall.
It is snowing in Sedona which is less than three hours away, but at a higher elevation.
What is your weather like today? Is it normal for this time of year?
This is a photo I saw online from Monday afternoon at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Flights had to be diverted to Las Vegas and Los Angeles due to the haboob.
What’s a haboob?
A haboob is a type of intense dust storm carried by the wind of a weather front or thunderstorm. Haboobs occur regularly in dry land area regions throughout the world, and off-Earth. They can be dangerous.
Fortunately we missed this event. We are still at the beach enjoying beautiful weather. I received photos and videos from neighbors. The haboob hit Maricopa County south of Phoenix all the way up north to our neighborhood. We didn’t get the brunt of it, but I read the winds were up to 75 mph.
I also read that 67,000 homes lost power.
A haboob is a dust storm pushed by the wind produced by a weather front or thunderstorm and typically occurs in flat, arid areas. Heavy rain and wind followed Monday’s haboob, delaying flights at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and causing some damage to a terminal roof. https://weather.com/news/news/2025-08-26-phoenix-arizona-dust-storm-haboob
A couple years ago, my husband was driving on a freeway in Scottsdale when a haboob hit. He said he lost visibility and his car was being moved around. Talk about scary. I’m glad I was safe at home at the time. When it passed, he said there were trees littering the freeway.
In any case, I’m glad to be at the beach and that we missed the haboob. Mostly I’m glad we weren’t driving at the time. Also, the good news was the haboob was followed by much needed rain.
Have you heard of a haboob before?
What type of strange weather do you have where you live?
One thing I noticed about living in Arizona is the weather. We have more of it than in Palm Springs, where I used to live. How can you have MORE weather you might ask? There’s more variety. Look at yesterday. We woke up to rain while it was sunny and warm in Palm Springs. Then in the afternoon we had wind. The past few days we had lows of 28 degrees. Never had that in Palm Springs. We even get an occasional snow day. We had that once out of 30 years in Palm Springs. Plus, at our new home, there are monsoons and haboobs to mix it up.
When I first moved to the Palm Springs area, every morning I’d watch the weather forecast before getting dressed. My husband asked me what I was doing.
“Checking the weather,” I explained. In Seattle, I did that to know what to wear.
“Let me give you a hint,” he said. “Sunny and warm or sunny and hot.”
As a former Seattle-ite, I hated rain. After living in the desert for more than 30 years, I love every bit of rain we get.
There’s an area nearby us that doesn’t have water. The water pipes don’t make it there. Scottsdale was trucking in water to that unincorporated residential area. Can you imagine buying a home and running out of water within a few years? There was a big controversy when Scottsdale cut off supplying water. Residents were drilling wells, but instead of a few dozen yards deep, they were going down hundreds of feet with nothing. I read one horse rancher has a well 800 feet deep, and the water is only 100 feet above the bottom of his well.
Eventually Scottsdale settled with the area and they are supplying water again.
I wondered when we bought our home, why the address was Scottsdale, because it’s a little cutout north of Scottsdale and technically could be in another town. I don’t question it anymore, because I’m happy to have the water and city services Scottsdale provides. We did look at a few homes in unincorporated areas. I’m so glad we didn’t buy outside of city limits.
Palm Springs and the surrounding area is on an aquifer with supposedly unlimited water. Or at least a few-hundred years supply. They also have a number of settling ponds that capture rainfall which allows it to settle back into the aquifer.
I think one of the issues with water in the Phoenix area are the tech companies who have built facilities here.
Here’s a snippet I found about tech companies in the greater Phoenix area and water:
Water, one of the most important elements in the semiconductor manufacturing process, has always been a precious resource in Arizona. Its conservation and management have been a priority for generations, even predating statehood. More than any other state, Arizona understands the importance of long-term planning — it was the first to project its water supply 100 years into the future and remains one of the only states in the nation to do so. This proactive approach to water management ensures that any new developments have access to water for generations to come.
This commitment to transparency and resiliency in water management is vital for semiconductor manufacturers. Companies like Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company chose to grow in Greater Phoenix because it provides a strategic location, stable energy grid and skilled workforce, but these location decisions also rely on the availability and reliability of water. Arizona’s commitment to resilient water management and transparency in long-term planning gives companies confidence in the region’s future.
I woke up to thunder. The sky was dark and ominous. While writing my morning pages in my journal, there was a cloud burst and rain. My husband and I both ended up in the backyard. He left through the kitchen door, and I went out the bedroom slider, but we ended up together to experience rain.
It was a short-lived rainfall, but then there was that wonderful smell. There’s a word for it:
Petrichor: The distinctive scent which accompanies the first rain after a long warm dry spell.
I wrote about petrichor when I first discovered the word a few years ago. I wrote about it HERE
After a rain where we live there is a rich deep smell from creosote. Every region must have its own distinct petrichor, depending on plant life.
I took a look at what I wrote (link above) and what hit me was how many of the bloggers who I enjoyed reading and interacting with no longer are around. I clicked on their names and to read “page not found” or blogs with no new entries since 2021.
Do you find bloggers you followed have disappeared? Do you think it’s a coincidence it happened through the shutdown years?
Do you think that we should give our readers a warning if we stop blogging? Why or why not?
I saw these beautiful flowers at a neighbor’s house. I’d like this plant in my yard.
Does anyone know the name of this flower?
After feeling stronger, post Covid, I’ve been enjoying my morning walks. I’ve also spent time in my backyard reading and enjoying the warmth of the sun.
Sometimes we walk in the morning and afternoon. Yesterday was a very windy afternoon. Then this morning the temperature dropped to the high 30s. That’s after a few days in the high 70s.
Adding to the blustery cold temperature, my iphone told me the air quality is dangerous. That must be due to the particulate matter in the air because of the strong winds.
So, I am skipping my walk today.
I’m anxious for the weather to get back to normal — warm sunshine and no wind.
Random thoughts:
I stretched and did my crunches this morning for the first time since I was sick.
I broke a three-day streak of Wordle in three tries. Today it took five.
Yesterday, I got a pedicure and was shocked at the price. I paid $24 in Palm Springs, but I was charged $47 yesterday in Scottsdale. I did agree to a “deluxe pedicure” so there is that.
I’m trying to get a hair appointment because I don’t want to drive five hours to my old hairdresser. A neighbor recommended her hair dresser. I’ve been texting this new hair dresser for more than a week and don’t have an appointment yet. Apparently, she’s very busy and doesn’t usually take new clients!
I’m reading “Our Last Days in Barcelona” by Chanel Cleeton. I normally love her books, but this one is dragging. I liked “Next Year in Havana” and “When We Left Cuba.” It has the same characters, so you’d think I’d be enthralled, but it’s slow on action and long on dialogue.
This is a ledge outside our garage. That white stuff is snow or ice. I’m not sure which?
I was talking on the phone with a friend from college who lives near Seattle. I told her it was freezing here.
“Freezing? What’s the temperature?” she asked. She sounded skeptical. I often used the word “freezing” when I lived in Palm Springs. That meant anything under 65 degrees.
“It was 29 degrees when I got out of bed,” I said. “We’ll have a high of 40 today.”
“Wow, that really is freezing,” she answered.
The other night I sat on the sofa looking out our sliding glass door as the house and sky lit up with lightening. The roaring thunder that followed was exciting. On my lap, Olive the cat, clung for dear life.Then it poured rain for hours. It was a fun evening in my perspective — real weather!
The next morning, my husband and I tried to walk. But it was too cold for us and we gave up. It was 30 degrees.
We waited until 1 p.m. for our “morning” walk. I took the two pictures here leaving for our walk. I’m not sure if it snowed after I fell asleep — or if it was frozen rain. A neighbor came over the next day and asked me what the white stuff was on our roof! I hadn’t noticed that before. It’s been so cold the ice/snow lasted for two days!
FYI, my neighbor said she had none. She’s just around the corner from us!
What do you consider freezing temperatures? What temperature is too hot for you?
View of San Francisco from Indian Rock park I enjoyed on an earlier visit to see my kids.
It’s my son’s surgery. I’m mentally preparing for the day ahead by visualizing what the day will bring. Go to the surgery center with my son. Buy him congee after surgery for a light easy-to-digest meal, buy ice, and help him get comfortable (FYI, I’m writing this on the morning of Jan. 4).
But then I got an email with friends who know I’m in the Bay area.
Here’s an excerpt from Yahoo News:
San Francisco is about to be hit with a ‘brutal’ storm so severe that a meteorologist says is ‘one of the most impactful’ he’s ever seen
The National Weather Service’s Bay Area office issued a frank and dire warning to citizens in a statement, saying the storm, which is currently forecast to begin peaking Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, could bring about flooding and the loss of life.
“To put it simply, this will likely be one of the most impactful systems on a widespread scale that this meteorologist has seen in a long while,” the warning read. “The impacts will include widespread flooding, roads washing out, hillside collapsing, trees down (potentially full groves), widespread power outages, immediate disruption to commerce, and the worst of all, likely loss of human life. This is truly a brutal system that we are looking at and needs to be taken seriously.”
Yep. This storm may make my caregiving duties more challenging than I was expecting. I’m hoping the news is over-hyping the storm and danger. But you never know.
Keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I get through the next few days.
What is your weather like this week? Do you have storms headed your way?
