may 22, 2003
dust devils in az/ca


With the unfavorable pattern for chasing set to continue through the weekend, I decided to continue westward from Flagstaff AZ to my parents house in Turlock CA. This was probably the first time I've been in that area in late May since 1997. Needless to say, I was the last person they expected to see walk through their door. On the way out there, I witnessed many dust devils near Kingman AZ and Newberry Springs CA. I was unable to get video or stills of any of the dust devils, although I was able to capture a few images of interest while trying.....


Scattered cumulus and broken cirrus adorn the mid morning sky in Flagstaff AZ.
Here's what is known as cheap gas in Needles CA. A couple of stations just up the street were selling unleaded for $2.19/gallon!!!!!
Temperature 15 miles east of Newberry Springs was 101F at 4pm......
....and the dewpoint was 17F!!! The ASOS in Daggett about 20 miles to my west was reporting a temp/dew of 102/61 at the same time. No way the dewpoint at DAG was close to 60. And I thought my Kestrel had a moist bias!!!.
After seeing dust devil after dust devil pass close to the town of Newberry Springs while approaching from the east, I decided to brave the unpaved roads of the town and set up my tripod to get video. But of course, the dust devil show was over by the time I arrived, and this sign turned out being the most interesting thing I filmed.


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