October 31, 2018
By Laurel Strohmeyer
Here is my shortened version of the 2018 monsoon season.  What a fabulous season it was.
This film, which I shot and produced, is about three minutes long. It incorporates filming from several storms over the entire summer. I hope your readers enjoy it. I’d love to hear your feedback and the feedback of The Peak‘s readers.!
Frenetic by Laurel Strohmeyer
Monsoon Filming
As you might know the Arizona monsoon season begins in July and winds up in late September or early October. Some seasons produce really spectacular storms. The storms tend to be frenetic in nature and sometimes are accompanied by strong winds (up to 75 mph), dust storms, lightning, torrential rains, flash flooding, and some end with a beautiful rainbow.
Monsoon storms roll in fast and one has to try to stay ahead of them. I Learned this the hard way. One storm-threatening evening I headed out and couldn’t get to a place where the lightning was not striking directly overhead! I felt like a member of an endangered species. Needless to say, I never set foot outside the jeep!
In some of my chosen areas, the lightning can be completely unpredictable. One evening I was out taking photographs with four strangers. Suddenly, a strike went straight over our heads. It lit up the entire area like a shopping mall during the holiday season. That was the end of that adventure! One of the photographers, who lived nearby, said that for some reason that spot was “just like that.” Good to know! The next time I go there I will only shoot from inside the jeep rather than standing in a puddle. LOL (Laugh Out Loud).
It took time for me to find good locations and learn how to predict whether the storms would actually approach those locations. It’s often a crap shoot. The good news is that I keep on learning and hope to produce an even better film next time.
It’s always better to be ahead of the storm and witness it as it approaches. Arizona has lots of open space with expansive views. When monsoon storms pass through it can be an amazing spectacle. Many times, I’ve arrived too late and missed a special opportunity. But the disappointment just adds to the excitement when the next storm arrives and the chase is on.
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