Afternoon Rainstorm

A late afternoon rainstorm is different here in the desert - very different from anywhere else I've lived.

You can tell its going to rain, as it becomes muggy, the air is heavy.  It was 103 degrees around 2pm, and then clouds began to form.  As they obscure the sun, the temp dropped to 95.  The cold air in the clouds mixes with the heat from the desert floor, and creates winds, which begin to blow.  Not just a breeze, but really blowing - enough to shake the car driving home.   In less than 15 minutes, the temperature drops another 20 degrees, and the rains begin, softly at first, and then in a whoosh, like someone opening a faucet.

The streets fill up - we don't have "sewer systems" like other places, because we don't get rainfall like they do.  So the water is slow to drain from the roads, the curbs are full to capacity, and drivers slow down because  catching the edge of one of those puddles can pull your car's steering out of your hands, or you hydroplane, or both!

As all the drivers slow down, most of us roll our windows down.  Ahh the smell of the cold rain mixed with heated air, a little bit of wet dust as well.   It's so amazing how cold the raindrops are, you'd think when its hot, and it rains, we'd welcome the relief!  But its a chilly rain that makes it over the mountain and into our Valley!    When it rains in buckets, everything gets a wash down, and smells so fresh!

If you've never experienced a desert storm, you should!  :)