Winter Storm

It seems the entire state of Arizona received a "winter storm" this week.  To those of us who live here, that meant some awesome sorely needed RAIN but it also meant a lot of blowing dirt and dust.  To our winter visitors it meant a day robbed of sunshine and warm weather.  It was good for them to see a dust storm so they get a glimpse of what our summer storms are like.  We had 1 1/2 inches of rain so instant ponds, little lakes, and some huge puddles appeared rapidly.  The desert ground is very hard so water runs off rapidly which can result in some true flash floods. 

Here's the "little puddle" that typically forms when a heavy rain drains off to the golf course.  This is the fairway for Hole 7 as you enter the resort.

Our Palm Creek resort is built so that all the water flows over to the golf course and doesn't flood our streets or RV lots.  The golf course turns into a collective lake in a hurry during a heavy rain as can be seen by these pictures.  (Thank you, Verna Sheppard, for sharing your photos!)  Our lucky landscape crews then wade out to the center of the 7th fairway and "pull the plug" to pump the water into the pond system.  The next day after this storm, golfers were back on the course again.  I believe a few holes were kept off limits to allow them to dry out more, but the golfers were back chasing the little white ball again in no time.

This is the exact spot where all that deep water existed on the 7th fairway yesterday! 

This particular pond by the 9th hole is obviously over its banks but should recede in another day or so.  The goldfish, koi, and catfish love to explore the new territory so there is always some good news.

Everything in these photos looks so nice and clean and green.....BUT....not our houses, cars, and patios!  The blowing wind really stirred up the desert dirt and left us some heavy duty clean up chores.  Take a look at the grit on my patio table and our golf cart!