Rain In The Desert Makes A Happy Environment

But is it too late? Is it enough? - Issue # 51

The unmistakable scent of the creosote enveloped us as we stepped out of the car, signaling rain in the desert.

It doesn’t usually rain here in early May, but it’s been an unusual year. We had no monsoon over the summer and no rain in the winter, either.

It rained for a few days in March, but barely enough to wet the cement in town.

And finally, during the first few days of May, it rained! To top it off, the weather was unseasonably cool! Enough to let us go for walks.

On our walk after rain, I remembered why the Sonoran Desert is known as the greenest desert on the planet.

The giant saguaros looked healthy again, especially the younger ones.

Blooming saguaro in the Sonoran Desert Preserve

We enjoyed several walks at the beginning of May, when the rains ensured that temperatures stayed low enough to be outdoors.

The desert in Phoenix in May (after rain).

In most years, by May, we stop walking in the desert.

But this year, the whole month of May, except for a few days, was more pleasant than usual; we didn’t feel the need to run away.

And the first day of June brought more rain to the desert! We haven’t seen rain in June since we’ve lived here - over thirty years.

So, we looked it up and learned that it only rained in Phoenix on June 1st twice in the past 129 years! As much as we enjoyed it, it seems wrong, an obvious sign of climate change.

But we take rain in the desert any time it comes. Our plants like it, and it even brought the temperatures down to under 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 Celsius). The reason we are in town is a bit more complicated than the rain, but we postponed a short trip because it called for rain, and we wanted to see if indeed we would get some. And we did!

On the first of June, it rained in the Sonoran Desert!

In Phoenix, it rained all day, starting mid-morning. It was a slow, barely there rain, what the Diné call female rain, which in itself is unusual. Overnight, the storm came, too, with thunder and lightning, and heavy rain enough to wake us. Early morning, it stayed cloudy, and even cooler than inside the house with air conditioning. The sun just started to peak out around mid-morning, which will make it humid when it gets warmer. Still, it promises to be a pleasant day, even on the warm side.

The birds sound happy. The desert vegetation is happy. Though everything must be confused, like us. However, at least since last summer, we had no monsoon at all, now either it is coming early (very early), or at least due to some anomaly, it is trying to compensate.

Climate change - on a good day.