Weird Weather August

Weird August days in Palm Springs, 2012

If you came to Palm Springs this month, you could have thought you were in Miami (if it wasn't for the mountains).

Most days have been humid, sultry, sticky and most recently smelly (the sad Salton Sea). I can't remember an August being this humid and rainy, and I've lived here 12 years.

Today it rained a lot. Most people think that August rain is rare in the desert. To be sure, it is, but not that rare. August is the wettest of the summer months because of the monsoon moisture pushed up from the Gulf of California, that body of water that separates Baja California from the rest of Mexico. Average rainfall for August is .29 inches.

It rained .21 inches in Palm Springs according to Desertweather.com. Cathedral City got .71 inches of rain, that folks is a lot of rain for this area.

You can see how much variation that is. The rainfall amounts in a thunderstorm from one place to another can be significant. One mile can make a lot of difference.

We don't sing "Rain, rain go away. Come again some other day." We're glad to have it. The vegetation's beginning to look very perky--stiff, clean leaves, dark bark and even some blossoms.