A Colorful Monsoon storm thunderhead forming In North Scottsdale, AZ.

The monsoon season in Arizona is a highly anticipated and dynamic weather phenomenon that brings a dramatic shift in climate and atmospheric conditions to Southwest region of the USA. Moisture is drawn into Arizona from the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California, resulting in the formation of powerful thunderstorms across the state. Lasting from mid-June through September, this annual event marks a significant departure from the dry desert climate that characterizes the region for much of the year. In fact, Arizona can receive over 50% of its annual precipitation during the relatively short summer Monsoon season. Below you will see some Monsoon related images and video footage I have captured in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area.

Monsoon Photography Tips:

As a photographer based here in the Phoenix area, Monsoon season is one of my favorite times of the year to capture dramatic sunsets, rainbows, thunderstorms, dust storms, and cloudscapes that can be generated by this unstable and moisture rich weather pattern. The thunderstorms in particular here can be downright fearsome with intense down pours, flash flooding, mighty wind gusts, and dramatic lightning. My favorite time to shoot photos during monsoon season is right after a late afternoon storm passes through and right before or at sunset. The moisture laden clouds (with a little dust thrown in) after a storm are a near perfect ingredient in my experience for producing a very vibrant and warm hued sunset sky.

As far as tips for shooting these storm events my first common sense tip is to watch and plan your shoots according to weather forecasts. Today’s weather apps are very accurate and doppler radar maps can give you a very good idea when thunderstorms should pass through your area.

As far as locations, one of my favorite spots to wait wait and shoot an approaching storm is at one of the many trailheads in the McDowell Sonoran desert preserve in Scottsdale. In general all the trailheads in the preserve have great and open desert views with mountain backdrops. In addition, a lot of the trailheads also offer good cover with their buildings and open air structures that serve as a visitor center that also have amenities like restrooms, seating, etc. The Browns Ranch Trailhead in North Scottsdale is a good example and it has a large covered Ramada to take cover from a storm.

As far as camera gear, my preference is to shoot these storms with a wide-angle lens to capture as much of sky desert landscape as possible. An example would be the sigma 18-35 mm art lens which is also a good low light lens as it goes down to f/1.8 aperture. I shoot a lot of 4k time-lapses during monsoon season so I still use my old canon 10-18 mm super wide-angle lens. Its not the sharpest or fastest lens, but I find its great for shooting 4k video and time lapses on my Canon 90D. Below you can see some Monsoon storm time-lapse videos I captured.

On my Canon Mirrorless (EOSr) I like to shoot storms with a prime lens like the 16mm RF lens. And though its not a wide angle lens, I still love shooting storms and landscapes with my trusty 50mm nifty fifty as it great in low light and super sharp.

Safety:

I guess it goes without saying that shooting or photographing powerful and fast moving thunder storms has it risks. As someone who was nearly clipped by lighting last summer in New Mexico while shooting a scene I can attest it can be very scary. So, in general when I am out in the field or on a trail and start hearing thunder and seeing lightning I am already heading for some type of cover. I would never underestimate how fast these storms can move in and also produce flash flooding in minutes.

Please contact me if you have any questions, special requests, or want to purchase an image that is not linked. All images & monsoon video footage are copyrighted