Saturday, March 22, 2014

Rain in the Desert

In the six or so years we've been coming to Arizona we've only seen a sprinkle of rain once in a long while.  This past trip though showed us what rain in the desert is really like.  The local TV reports were calling it the largest storm of the year!  It was beautiful.

Water seems to not seep into the ground here but instead finds the lowest area and runs down to pool at the lowest spot.  For that reason, the neighbhourhoods all have run-off trails to prevent flooding.

Rain pouring down in our back yard

Following the water as it drains off

Our street

This is a beautiful green area kitty corner from our house.  During a
rain it fills up with water.  This took place within half an hour of the rain
starting.

More water runnoff

Puddles in the back yard

That's rain falling on the saguaro, not hail.



Rain and puddles - not a big deal in Canada but
quite spectacular down here in Arizona

Kids always find ways to enjoy puddles, now matter how large


Aftermath - rain dripping off the cactus

 It was an exciting storm, but even better is the lovely warm sunny days that make us forget about the snow back home.



7 comments:

Granny Annie said...

Even being from the United States I did not know that about rain in Arizona. Plus those prickles on the cactus look like multi colored pick-up sticks.

Mickey said...

It was exciting for Arizona after rain free for 6 months! Love the pictures! ;)

Mickey said...

It was exciting for Arizona after rain free for 6 months! Love the pictures! ;)

TARYTERRE said...

That sounds exciting, indeed. Looks beautiful too. GREAT pictures.

Haf Dozen Reasons....... said...

Awesome!!!!

RoeH said...

HA! Contrary to the media saying it was the largest storm of the year, it was the only storm of the year. We always hope we will get more and more of it. But sadly all we get to do is sit around, hope, and wait for another one to come. And when it comes, I truly love the smell of the desert, the automatic coolness and the wet. :)

Bev said...

WOW...when did you get that?... We had a down pour the beginning of March...but nothing like that!!...Yes we are NOT looking forward to home...but still have about 2 or 3 weeks down here!!