A little bit of a late announcement, but IT SNOWED IN TUCSON! I got roughly 1/2″ of snow; some places in Tucson got up to 7″ of snow. That’s nuts for Tucson. I mean…it’s snowed here before but it doesn’t snow like the east coast does. I’ve had my fair share of snow when I was studying in Michigan. Now, I’ve lived in places where I’ve had lot of snow, a little bit of snow, and no snow – I might have gotten the full spectrum of the snowing experience.
I must say that I do appreciate and prefer to have some snow where I live…not a lot where I have to start snow plowing but enough where I can just enjoy watching it come and then go the next day. Seeing snow sorta brings out that inner child in me because I’m reminded of snowball fights, building snowman, and sledding.
It’s sort of a big deal for Tucson
Snow is kind of a big deal in Tucson.
I’m not talking about the snow on the mountain tops; I’m talking about snow in the city. And it’s not just snow that comes and goes every couple of minutes. I’m talking about it snowing for like 30 minutes to an hour straight. The snow also piles up instead of just melting on contact with the ground. I mean look at this sick photo! It’s like a winter wonderland…except in the desert!
Snowing in Tucson is a big deal because it doesn’t snow that much here. It’s mostly clear skies and sunny days (I do NOT complain at all when I say that). Plus, Tucson is known for being super hot during the summer up until October. So having snow is like a nice change in scenery.
If you’ve never heard of Tucson, let me gives you some fun facts about the city (it’s gonna be all about the weather and location of the city):
- Tucson is located in the Sonoran Desert. It’s surrounded by 5 minor mountain ranges. It’s the 2nd largest city in Arizona (first being Phoenix).
- Although it snowed a bit late last year, the last time before that was in 2019. So we don’t really get snow every year
- Tucson gets approximately 300 days of sunshine per year!! Pretty much California weather except we don’t get the nice ocean breeze :(.
- On the opposite side of being sunny, Tucson can get quite dark at night in certain parts of town for two reasons. First, Tucson has some of the darkest night skies of any city its size in the US. Second, there’s an ordinance or order that limits artificial light pollution so it doesn’t interfere with the astronomical observatories around the area. To minimize light pollution, some streets like mine were not given any street lamps!
- Tucson does get its share of chilly temperatures, but that’s not the roughest part of Tucson. It’s the summers. The hottest it ever got in Tucson was 117F in 1990. Tucson was 115F in 2019. You can literally boil an egg outside in that heat. During the summer, you can expect an average temperature of 94F.
So for how hot it can get and how long it is sunny throughout the year, getting snow in Tucson is quite rare.
The full spectrum of experience
When something is rare, we try to relish the experience of having it in our life. We essentially give it more value. I feel like in order to really maximize that value, we should really seek out what it’s like to have a lot of something, a little of something, and nothing at all. Having this full spectrum of experience will provide you with perspective on how valuable something is to you.
I really admit that I still don’t understand how rare some things are in my life like my close relationships. I have this bad habit of waiting until something bad happens to realize that I took something or somebody for granted. I’m trying not to adopt that mentality anymore by using my time to seek out new experiences that will show me how rare and valuable some things and people are in my life.