A massive dust storm in Northern Mexico, a rare tornado in New Mexico, wildfires in Colorado and Arizona (the other day there was quite a bit of smoke in the air from a wildfire near Payson), an unusually-active early tropical season in the Pacific – all signs pointing to a very long and hot summer here in the desert Southwest. It’s already dry and dusty here from the dry winter we had. I’m just glad we had the foresight to replace our clunky A/C unit and bump up our attic insulation last year. Accuweather is predicting a more active hurricane season (Atlantic and Pacific) this year then last since the La Nina is receding. The good news is that a winter without a La Nina means a more “normal” winter season and hopefully a return to the winter storms dumping tons of snow on the Sierras – something sorely needed to build up the Lake Mead reservoir for Arizona, Nevada, and California.

Here’s the cool link showing the Mexico dust storm and New Mexico tornado.