Rain in the Mojave Desert – The Desert is Blooming
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A little rain in the desert goes a long way and the desert flowers are starting to pop up.
It doesn’t happen all that frequently, but it does rain in Las Vegas on occasion. And when it does, if the rain persists for more than a day or beyond even a few hours, Las Vegans become suicidal. OMG… it’s been raining for the last hour, whatever shall we do? It’s not like the desert can’t use the rain. Unlike most Las Vegans, we recognize that we don’t melt and we still take our daily walks… rain or shine.
In all fairness to the natives, when it rains here the water has nowhere to go. The dry, parched desert soil with high clay content, does not absorb the rain, but rather allows it to run off. Flash flood warnings are common and local flooding is frequent.
When it rains, it pours and flooding is pretty common in Las Vegas. Here’s the entrance to our community the other morning.
All that said, when the spring rains come, so do the desert flowers. After suffering through heat and cold and lack of water, the welcome showers coax all the desert wildflowers into bloom. We took a walk along the Railroad Tunnel trail at Lake Mead the other day (before the state ‘stay at home’ request took effect). Desert landscape that was brown and barren a few weeks ago is now greening up. Flowers are shooting up everywhere and it’s a pleasure to walk in the midst of the desert blooms. Take a look.
It’s reassuring to know that despite the current world health situation, the Spring flowers in bloom can still put a smile on our faces.