Observations for Fermi during Cycle 6 got off to a slow start tonight, but they did at least start. The summer monsoon is still in force in Arizona and plenty of rain fell on Mt. Bigelow during the afternoon and early evening. The sky cleared off fairly well by midnight and the Kuiper Telescope was able to observe several blazars to start Campaign 53. The seeing was decent, coming in at 1.2-1.6 arcsec.
Drier air is forecast to move in over the next few days, meaning that there
is a good chance that thunderstorm activity will diminish. It is likely that this does not signal the end of the 2014 monsoon season. Very wet and unstable air is set to move back into the area by the weekend.
