Summer Monsoons here in Arizona are to be enjoyed by all... well almost all. The summer monsoons that affect specific areas of the globe can be quite devastating and if you live or travel in flood prone areas, watch out. Here in Southern Arizona we have major advantages of an educated public and Storm Alerts that help us all plan for possible flooding. In India & Bangladesh millions of people are affected this year by monsoon floods. This Reuters news video of the effects on flooding in India show just how fortunate we are in this region.
Pima County has a Flood Alert website that I use to check for rainfall over the last 24 hours to see if I need to take care about river and stream crossings. Since I drive through the Santa Cruz River in Tumacacori it is best to check to see the likelyhood of having to drive south and cross the bridge in Rio Rico. For this I use the USGS Real-Time Water Data site for seeing the actual flow and this will give me a measure of the cubic feet per second running where I want to cross the Santa Cruz. If it looks higher than normal, I don't even get off the Highway in Tubac and go straight to Rio Rico. Most locals here in Southern Arizona pay attention to the river & stream crossings but if you are visiting, you may not know to be careful.
Tubac is in the area called the "upper Santa Cruz valley" and we who live here are in the "upper reaches" of the Santa Cruz river drainage. A little known fact is that the Santa Cruz River has its headwaters in the San Rafael valley in Arizona but flows southward into Mexico before turning north and flowing back into Arizona. This Santa Cruz River Map from the Friends of the Santa Cruz River shows the river's upper reaches. What it doesn't show is the many tributary streams that feed into the river and add water to the basin. I have one such tributary stream crossing my property on Salero Ranch that feeds into Bond Canyon Creek which in turn flows into the Josephine Creek. Josephine is the main drainage from the south side of the Santa Rita mountains and is a primary tributary for the upper Santa Cruz.
Map courtesy of the Sonoran Institute