The winds grow high; Impending tempests charge the sky; The lightning flies, the thunder roars; And big waves lash the frightened shores. - Matthew Prior

Last night the valley got its first real monsoon of the season. With howling winds, thunderous bolts of lightning, and rain that left a number of roads shut down overnight, it burst upon the valley and left us all splashing about in the warm rain and clean air.

After a small get together at my brother’s place where I weathered the worst of the storm, I headed down to Tempe Town Lake in the hopes of snapping a few fun shots, avoiding getting drenched, and playing with one or two newly discovered features on my camera.

If you’d like to see full-sized versions of these images and others from the evening, they are available in the photography section of my website.  Click here for a direct link. All photos were shot on a Canon G7. The shots in this post were taken with a small portable tripod and 2-15 second exposure times.