The first half of the night was overcast with the debris clouds from the large thunderstorms that hit just east of Kitt Peak during the afternoon. After midnight a few clear holes developed, but it did not matter. The SPOL instrument computer died. After being plugged back in after the thunderstorm activity subsided, it would not boot. Phone calls were made and consultations were started. It was decided to bring the computer back to town to have the technical folks diagnose the problem and try to correct it during the following day. I spent the middle part of the night driving the computer back to town. No observations were made, though, given the marginal weather, it is doubtful that more than a just a couple of objects could have been observed even if there were no technical difficulties.
The forecast calls for drier air moving into southern AZ during the next couple of days, so keep your fingers crossed that the computer problems are not fatal.
