12News’ Weather Watchers capture monsoon magic in Arizona

PHOENIX — As monsoon shows off its vibrant shades of desert weather, an Arizona group, exclusive to 12News, is in the middle of the action. The talented group of citizen photographers helps us tell some of the biggest stories of the summer. 

The Weather Watchers venture out across Arizona 365 days a year, showing us the best the Grand Canyon state has to offer. Marilee Keller Ade is part of the core group that shares a core passion. 

“We have this in common, and that we love photography,” Marilee said. 

Marc Zebell has been a photographer for most of his life, and is also part of the group. “I’ve been doing it for almost, well, 47 years,” he said. 

Curt Eckert started with the group by sending in a few shots. 

“I loved seeing the pictures and thought I had something to contribute,” Eckert said. “And I started sending them in, and started seeing them on the news.”

Eckert uses a drone to capture stunning shots year-round and especially during the monsoon. 

“I’m always watching the radar while I’m working from home and keeping an eye on things and when to go outside and take pictures,” Eckert said. 

Location and timing, Weather Watcher Marilee agrees, are key to that perfect shot

“I’m watching for unusual kind of things, the sun coming through the clouds, or a definite edge of the haboob so people can really see it,” she said. Marilee’s cat, Tinker, is also a star in the group. “I love to get Tinker up there, braving the elements,” she said. 

Just outside of the Valley, Chuck Donald captures some of his favorites in the Tonto National Forest. “All of those compositional elements of the horses and sky and the lighting, it’s pretty dramatic, good theater out there as well,” Donald said. 

Zebell’s photos come from the stunning White Mountains, but most live too far from her to frequent.

 “A lot of times I’m up before the sun comes up, and I hit up in the mountains,” Zebell said. “It’s only about a 15-minute drive for me to be up in the 9,000-foot elevation.”

Michael Marcinko has mastered making the Arizona desert pop off the screen, in the Sonoran Preserve.

“So we’ve got this weird texture of clouds and light and this explosion of color, and it was just one of those things where you just hit the button, this is a great photograph,” Marcinko said.

Weather Watchers, each with their own playbook for capturing Arizona. Eckert said it can take anywhere from a minute to a half an hour for him to get the perfect shot. And Marcinko said photographers always need to be ready to shoot. 

“The best camera you have is the one that you have on you at the time,” he said.

Zebell added he doesn’t use Photoshop for his work. 

“You know, the exposure levels, he replied. “I’d learned all that from doing film photography.”

It’s a community welcoming anyone drawn to our state’s beauty, especially our infamous summer season.

“One of the things that got us through the heat was knowing the monsoon was coming and anticipating that relief,” Donald said.

It’s relief found in celebrating capturing the vast and harsh desert. “And we’re really excited to share that moment we captured,” Marcinko said.

The 12News Weather Watchers Facebook group is open for anyone to join. Your photos are featured on 12News platforms. 

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