This is a classic monsoon storm in Southeast Arizona in the summer. Monsoons are small, isolated but very violent lightning storms surrounded by blue sky and white clouds. There are so many of these during July and August that the desert experiences a second spring and the entire desert turns green.

These storms form very quickly. Below, the first photo is of a Monsoon that had just formed in the distance. The second photograph shows how it has grown. It was even starting to rain on me as I took the second picture. The startling part is the second photo was taken only TWO MINUTES after the first.