Dear Tom,
Every summer in Arizona they talk about the monsoon season, but we don’t get very much rain. How is that a monsoon?
Stephanie VanBeveren Lake Havasu City, Arizona
Dear Stephanie,
Most people associate the word monsoon with the torrential rain that it brings to portions of India during the rainy season, but in reality the term just means seasonal wind. During the dry season, winds blow from land to sea and the weather is dry, but in the wet season the wind flow reverses bringing moisture inland. In summer, intense heating develops low pressure in the southwestern deserts while the western extension of the Bermuda High builds over the southeastern U.S. This establishes a southerly flow over the Southwest bringing moisture from the Gulfs of Mexico and California and the Pacific inland, fueling thunderstorms especially in the region’s higher terrain.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
