Hans Hanson, a hydro meteorological technician for the National Weather Service, prepares to launch a weather balloon. The balloon, which takes a sensor nearly 20 miles up, sends data every two seconds.

Photos by Jeffry Scott / Arizona Daily Star

More Photos (2):

Related articles:

Weather, c8

Other articles by Tom Beal:

Wildfire proves useful UA scientist sees sun power in new lightClouds raise big monsoon question: Are we there yet? Study boosts solar as an investment State in 'bull's-eye' for changeCity breeds ideal climate for virus-carrying pestsUA's goal for Biosphere 2: self-sufficient science hubBiosphere 2 seeks to answer questions about how life affects worldTwo Tucson weather records fallToday's storm brings record low, rainfall amount for Tucson

Administrative & Professional
Jorgensen Brooks Group
Counselor Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic Sales and Marketing
Everready Glass
Sales Reps Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist

Everybody talks about the weather, especially on the southern edge of the University of Arizona campus.

There, rooftop weather stations mark the offices of the people who tell us whether it's going to rain — among other, possibly more important, things.

On Wednesday, meteorologist Steve Reedy was in charge of "fire weather" for the National Weather Service, just back from another successful stint as incident meteorologist on a wildfire.

In the field, Reedy teams with fire behavior specialists to decide where to flank a fire and when it's safe to send in crews, light burnouts or fly aircraft.

Reedy showed up at the Distillery Fire last Thursday and hadn't finished unloading his equipment when it began to rain — fat drops that eventually fell over most of the fire and reduced it from dangerous runaway to an easily steered creeper that Forest Service officials say is doing more good than ill to the landscape in the Rincon Mountains.

This is not the first time. "Usually, whenever I go out on a fire, it rains soon afterwards," Reedy said.

Everybody talks about the weather; Reedy seems to do something about it.

He said his bosses are threatening to send him to California to put those blazes out.

Nearby, senior forecaster Jim Meyer is in charge of the day's overall forecast.

The good news is that high pressure is shifting over to the Four Corners area where it can steer classic monsoon winds into Tucson.

The bad news is that it will then be "collapsing back on top of us," Meyer said.

That, he said, will inhibit development of afternoon thunderstorms.

The monsoon is in evidence, the weathermen say, even if it hasn't rained at your house.

Over at the department of atmospheric sciences, the morning briefing reaches much the same conclusion as Meyer, with one "big if" — a tropical storm south of the Gulf of California.

Tropical Storm Douglas could send a surge of moisture northward and give us a really wet weekend, said Bill Scheftic, a graduate student in the department. Scheftic is pushed by research meteorologist Mike Leuthold to make a choice. He opts for a fairly dry weekend.

Leuthold isn't so sure. He's been in contact with a couple of old weather hands by e-mail this morning. They think the tropical storm is close enough to feed us a wet weekend.

Chris Castro, assistant professor of atmospheric sciences, is also in attendance. In early June, Castro bravely predicted an early onset of the monsoon.

It's here, he said. "We've gotten rain, significant rain, in the past week."

It's a "low grade monsoon pattern," he admitted, that brings storms down off central Arizona's Mogollon Rim in a northeasterly flow.