Summer in the Old Pueblo

Tucson in the summer can be...unbearable. Better than, say, Phoenix, Yuma or Lake Havasu City where temps are usually 10 degrees hotter than where I am, but it's still freakin' HOT. And once the monsoon season rolls in and the humidity climbs, it gets sticky. Of course, all y'all in the East and Midwest and South know what I'm talking about. 95 degrees with 90 percent humidity in Ohio is no picnic, either.

So, that's my not so great thing about summer here. Triple digit temps with humidity somewhere 55-60%.

But those high temps and high humidity is what gives us what I love about summer here--the monsoons. The storms are awesome--huge deluges, sometimes with microbursts that snap telephone poles like they were toothpicks. The storms generally roll in by late afternoon/early evening, sometimes last into the early morning hours, but by the time the sun comes up the next morning, we're getting up to beautiful blue skies. Then we repeat the process all over again. Not always every day, but a few times a week.

With the wide expanse, you can look east, for example, and see a rain shaft 10-15 miles away, and you're sitting in complete sunshine. And when the rains hit the mountains, with the clouds tucked into the canyons... It's gorgeous.

So, do you love or hate summer? Why?