Thunderheads over Mt. Whitney~SkyWatch Friday~070811

On our drive home from the Sierra, we stopped at the Lone Pine visitor center. Actually, we stopped a couple of times along the way to take some photos of the thunderheads which were developing over the southern Sierra, especially over Mt. Whitney. These were all from tropical storm Arlene, an Atlantic Ocean storm. Normally, we get our summer tropical monsoon moisture from Pacific Ocean storms. But, this one was sending up moisture and clouds anyway. It was hot and humid in the desert when we arrived home and we've had an additional 4 days of afternoon thunderstorms here as well as very high humidity. I always enjoy seeing thunderheads over our local mountains or mountains wherever we are. Here in the desert, the monsoon season usually begins mid-July or late July and runs through August, so this was an early storm. SkyWatch Friday for July 8, 2011.