High winds and rain

I had a Yelp event I was invited to at a small chocolate shop in Tucson.  Today was the last day for me to attend.  I had been holding off all week due to the triple-digit heat.

High winds and heavy rain were forecasted for 6pm on the Weather channel.  I took this forecast seriously and knew I needed to leave for Tucson and be back home before any rain fell.  I left all dogs at home so that they wouldn't suffer in the heat.  I tend to eat out while in Tucson to try something new in town.

Everything went well.  The chocolate shop was two blocks from a recycling station I use near Speedway avenue.  I didn't have much, but I did have bottles from dogs walks that I had picked up that needed to be dropped off.

The chocolate event went well.  The chocolate treat was very good, but very filling.  I only ate half the cup and saved the rest for the next day.

I stopped at Opa's Best Greek for a late lunch and then drove back home.  It was too hot to even walk the perimeter of Reid Park.

Neither the chocolate shop nor the Greek restaurant had plug-ins for my dying phone.  My camera phone was dead by the time I took off for the drive back.

The sky to the southeast was clouding up on my return drive home.  It was 5:45pm.  I could see a bright area in Sulphur Springs Valley thinking it was light shining on an area.  It was, but the area was a dust storm moving in.  I found that out an hour later.

I stopped at Walmart to look at plants and get some chicken for the dogs.  My phone's emergency alert system went off at 6:20pm warning about high winds and rain.  By the time I left Walmart at 6:29pm the winds were blowing hard but I ran to my Honda as fast as I could to avoid getting stuck in any rain.  I wanted to get home before Moson road was closed to flooding.

The dust darkened the sky a light, then dark grey. It began raining just as I was getting ready to turn south on Moson.

There are three dips on Moson Road that can cause flooding.  The first one is a half mile on Moson and the second one, an actual wash, a mile farther.  I drove the speed limit carefully.  A work truck with its lights flashing red was ahead of me.  I followed it closely until I turned on my street.

The area around my mailboxes was flooding.  There was one more dip before I got home.

The rain by now picked up in intensity.  I parked by the front door and waited for a lull in the rain before going inside.

The dogs were happy to see me as shortly after my arrival, the storm broke out with lightning and thunder and this rain persisted for 45 minutes.  I was glad that at least I was home for the dogs during the worst part of the storm.

And all this without being able to photograph any of it.  Later I saw friends' posts of dust clouds moving over the valley.