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	<title>The Firefly Forest &#187; Arizona Weather and Sky</title>
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	<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly</link>
	<description>Discovering and enjoying nature - The Firefly Forest is a combination nature journal and plant and animal species identification guide</description>
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			<item>
		<title>Sunset and Twilight</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2008/02/05/sunset-and-twilight/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2008/02/05/sunset-and-twilight/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Feb 2008 02:56:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[One of my favorite times of the day to go walking or exploring here in southeastern Arizona is the time just before sunset until the final lingering glow of twilight fades into darkness. At this time of day, the light takes on a beautiful, magical quality and there is still just enough light to spot [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Snowy Night in Tucson, January 21, 2007</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2007/01/24/snowy-night-in-tucson-january-21-2007/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2007/01/24/snowy-night-in-tucson-january-21-2007/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Jan 2007 07:16:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Although the higher elevation mountains around Tucson get snow every winter, Tucson itself will go for many years without any recorded snowfall. So when snow began falling here in Tucson on the evening of January 21, 2007, it was definitely an unusual and camera-worthy event.

The snowflakes were large as if a number of flakes had [...]]]></description>
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		<item>
		<title>Snow in Tucson, January of 2007</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2007/01/22/snow-in-tucson-january-of-2007/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2007/01/22/snow-in-tucson-january-of-2007/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Jan 2007 20:35:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[It snowed here in Tucson on the evening of January 21, 2007. A cold winter rainstorm magically turned into a snowstorm, and fat, wet snowflakes covered our desert trees and cacti in white. I got about 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) of snow at my house. By morning, it was already melting, but it was still [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Evil-looking Southern Arizona Skies</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/11/01/evil-looking-southern-arizona-skies/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/11/01/evil-looking-southern-arizona-skies/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Nov 2006 16:57:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[My favorite time of the year here in southern Arizona is the monsoon season, which runs from early July to sometime in September. The monsoon rains bring the desert back to life after the baking heat of June, and many of our native wildflowers bloom at this time.
Our Arizona monsoons are characterized by a pronounced [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Crepuscular Rays</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/10/01/crepuscular-rays/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/10/01/crepuscular-rays/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 Oct 2006 15:28:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Crepuscular rays are seen when intermittently obstructed, usually low angle sunlight shines through dense atmospheric haze. Crepuscular means &#034;of the twilight&#034;, and although these common optical atmospheric phenomena are usually seen late in the day, they can also appear at other times as well.

These particular silvery crepuscular rays appeared one September afternoon here in Tucson. [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Iridescent Clouds</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/08/10/iridescent-clouds/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/08/10/iridescent-clouds/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Aug 2006 14:50:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[I observed unusual iridescent clouds in the western Tucson sky late in the afternoon of August 8, 2006.

These iridescent clouds had formed amidst and above a fast developing monsoon thunderstorm. The atmosphere over Tucson was quite moist and unstable that hot and humid afternoon, with an interesting variety of clouds.

Rainbow-colored cloud iridescence or cloud irisation [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>July 2006 Flooding in Tucson</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/08/01/july-2006-flooding-in-tucson/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/08/01/july-2006-flooding-in-tucson/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Aug 2006 07:06:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[A very strange weather pattern settled over this region in late July, resulting in unusually heavy monsoon thunderstorms every night for several days here in Tucson. At my house, I got 5.75 inches (14.6 cm) of rain in just 4 evenings. The average annual rainfall in Tucson is only 12 inches (30.5 cm), so this [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Sunset Rainbow</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/04/24/sunset-rainbow/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/04/24/sunset-rainbow/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Apr 2006 14:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[It&#039;s not too common to see a rainbow in a colorful sunset sky, but sometimes one will suddenly appear, as this one did on April 4, 2006 here in Tucson.

A rainbow can be observed when low angle sunlight coming from behind the observer shines on water droplets in the air. Since the sun sets in [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Tucson Weather Trivia</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/04/22/tucson-weather-trivia/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/04/22/tucson-weather-trivia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 22 Apr 2006 14:00:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fireflyforest.net/fire/2006/04/22/tucson-weather-trivia/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Averages:


Average Annual Rainfall: 12.17 inches (30.91 cm)
Average First Occurrence of 100 °F (37.8 °C): May 26
Average Monsoon Start Date: July 3
Average First Freeze Date: November 24

Temperature Records:

Record High Temperature: 117 °F (47.2 °C) on June 26, 1990
Record Low Temperature: 6 °F (-14.4 °C) on January 7, 1913
Warmest year: 1989, with an average temperature of 71.4 [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Where&#039;s Our Rain?</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/01/16/wheres-our-rain/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/01/16/wheres-our-rain/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2006 16:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fireflyforest.net/fire/2006/01/16/wheres-our-rain/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We have had no winter rains here in Tucson, and if it doesn&#039;t rain soon, our spring wildflowers will never even sprout. Tucson normally gets about half of its yearly rains in the winter. This could be the driest winter season in centuries.
I would hate to see what it&#039;s like here in June after a [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2006/01/16/wheres-our-rain/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Fiery Sunset</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/12/11/fiery-sunset/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/12/11/fiery-sunset/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 Dec 2005 17:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fireflyforest.net/fire/2005/12/11/fiery-sunset/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I took this photo of a particularly fiery sunset on November 10, 2005 here in Tucson.

Sunlight is made up of a rainbow of different colored wavelengths of light, and when all visible wavelengths are equally present, the light appears white. Air molecules along with dust, pollutants, and other particulates in the atmosphere scatter away some [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/12/11/fiery-sunset/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tucson Sunrises and Sunsets</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/11/20/tucson-sunrises-and-sunsets/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/11/20/tucson-sunrises-and-sunsets/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Nov 2005 21:13:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Here in Tucson, the sun rises over the Rincon Mountains to the east of the city.

There is an old weather proverb:
Red sky by morning,
sailor take warning.
Red sky at night,
sailor&#039;s delight.

The red sunrise shown above occurred on December 21, 2002, and although the weather was cool with a high of 55 °F (12.8 °C) and a [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/11/20/tucson-sunrises-and-sunsets/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Violet Shooting Star</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/11/07/violet-shooting-star/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/11/07/violet-shooting-star/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Nov 2005 20:50:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fireflyforest.net/fire/2005/11/07/violet-shooting-star/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On the evening of November 6, 2005, I observed a large, violet-blue meteor go shooting past headed southward in the southeastern Tucson, Arizona sky. I have never seen a violet shooting star before, and this one looked larger and brighter than any star or planet visible in the night sky.

I created this artwork in Photoshop [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/11/07/violet-shooting-star/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tucson Sky Mosaic</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/10/12/tucson-sky-mosaic/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/10/12/tucson-sky-mosaic/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Oct 2005 17:09:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fireflyforest.net/fire/2005/10/12/tucson-sky-mosaic/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Arizona is known for it&#039;s glorious sunsets, and that may be the reason that the Arizona State Flag includes the stylized rays of a setting sun. I&#039;m always fascinated and awed by the variety of colors, both vivid and subtle, the sky can assume.

The one color that is least represented in the sky is green. [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/10/12/tucson-sky-mosaic/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hazy Days and Clouds</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/08/19/hazy-days-and-clouds/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/08/19/hazy-days-and-clouds/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Aug 2005 21:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[The monsoon humidity in the air has left most midsummer days hazy with scattered clouds, as can be seen in this photograph of East Tucson taken from the Catalina Highway. The hazy, blue mountains in the distance are the Santa Rita Mountains, which lie to the south of Tucson.

The monsoon  humidity and clouds do [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Clouds and Dragonflies</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/08/11/clouds-and-dragonflies/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/08/11/clouds-and-dragonflies/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Aug 2005 20:14:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Both clouds and dragonflies are common this time of year here in Tucson, as the moist, tropical air of the monsoons and the daytime desert heat are combined to brew up frequent thunderstorms. These storms and their heavy rains cause local streams and washes flow, and ponds to fill. Before the rains start in the [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Violent Rains</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/08/06/violent-rains/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/08/06/violent-rains/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Aug 2005 14:23:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fireflyforest.net/fire/2005/08/06/violent-rains/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[On August 3, 2005 here in Tucson, Arizona, I left home in my car about sunset. It was just staring to rain heavily, and the setting sun shown through the rain, tinting everything sepia like in an old photograph.

As I drove southward, the rain kept growing heavier and heavier, and soon pea-sized hail was pinging [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/08/06/violent-rains/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Monsoon Clouds</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/07/24/monsoon-clouds/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/07/24/monsoon-clouds/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 24 Jul 2005 14:05:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fireflyforest.net/fire/2005/07/24/monsoon-clouds/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[There were plenty of thunderstorms yesterday, and hopefully there will be more today, as the monsoons have arrived here in Tucson. Early in the day, the clouds are white and puffy, and this nice cloud even seemed to be giving me a friendly wave hello.

These harmless-looking clouds gradually change their character as the day progresses. [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/07/24/monsoon-clouds/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Will It Rain?</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/07/18/will-it-rain/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/07/18/will-it-rain/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Jul 2005 03:14:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://fireflyforest.net/fire/2005/07/18/will-it-rain/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Cumulus clouds are building and growing over the mountains tonight, and I hope that they soon develop into cumulonimbus clouds and bring us some desperately needed rain. The monsoons are late this year here in Tucson, and it is possible that we may have the latest monsoon start ever.

This massive cumulus cloud in the eastern [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>No Rain in June</title>
		<link>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/06/10/no-rain/</link>
		<comments>http://fireflyforest.net/firefly/2005/06/10/no-rain/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Jun 2005 18:18:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>T. Beth Kinsey</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arizona Weather and Sky]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[It has been weeks since we have had any rain here in Tucson. June is usually dry and very hot here in the Sonoran Desert. The washes around Tucson are dry, as are most of the washes in the lower mountain foothills, like this one in Molino Basin Campground.

The annual, spring wildflowers are dead and [...]]]></description>
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