It built for hours Thursday over the Santa Ritas — towering, bruise-colored, flickering with intent. Phones buzzed. Patio furniture was secured. One resident reported pre-emptively forgiving the storm for whatever it was about to do to her ocotillo.
Then, at approximately 4:40 p.m., the cell reached the town limits, considered its options, and dissolved like a rumor.
“Eleven minutes after I washed my truck,” said resident Frank Osei, who had washed his truck specifically to summon the storm, a technique he describes as “usually reliable.”
The National Weather Service, asked whether Sahuarita is being personally targeted, said no, that is not how meteorology works, and asked this newspaper to please stop calling the phenomenon “the Curse,” which the Ledger will not, because it is the Curse.
Rain remains in the forecast, technically, every afternoon this week.
The Ledger weather desk is one man with a rain gauge and, at this point, an agenda.