The Big Picture by Lennie Peterson for July 26, 2024

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    sergioandrade Premium Member 5 months ago

    It does occasionally rain in desert areas, usually during the spring. The pattern is that desert areas usually get one period where they get heavy rainfall for a short period of time, sometimes resulting in flash floods then several months without rain.

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    catsrule411  5 months ago

    Phoenix monsoon season is basically July through end of September and to a lesser extent December and January. Not Spring. Although we have had a few summers lately with virtually no rain therefore a drought even by desert standards.

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    bunwarpgazoo Premium Member 5 months ago

    Weeelllll Desert: arid land with usually sparse vegetationespecially : such land having a very warm climate and receiving less than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of sporadic rainfall annually (MW)

    Drought: a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall, leading to a shortage of water.

    So not equivalent, less than 25 cm is not abnormal for a desert, but a lack of even that much in a desert would be a drought and raise the chance of fire. Deserts are not always the Great Erg.

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    Brent Rosenthal Premium Member 5 months ago

    Nothing stoopid about that at all. As the other commenters have noted, even deserts have wet periods.

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    markkahler52  5 months ago

    It’s just that the ground can’t absorb the rain to a degree that will help it in the best possible way

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