And Then The Rains Come. . .Sort Of
It’s no surprise that Utah is a desert. Sure, we have the greatest snow on earth. (It says so right on the license plates.) The problem is there just isn’t enough of it. Well, there’s enough to ski on in the winter, but when that snow melts it goes into the reservoirs. And there’s not enough. There hasn’t been for years.
It rained today.
That’s unique enough to make the evening news, if we still had evening news. Maybe we do, I don’t really watch TV.
But, it did make the news sites. Not just our little rainstorm, of course. But, apparently we are starting into the monsoon season. It is projected to be an above average rainfall season. And because no good news can go unsullied, the news also talked about the increased chance of lightening strikes. Our mountains and valleys are covered with dried grass just waiting for something to set it on fire.
But, you live in a desert, in the middle of a drought you learn to be careful with fire. My little town of Pleasant Grove, Utah had two firework related over the 4th of July weekend. They mentioned our good showing on the 4th because we have another holiday coming up here in Utah.
The 24th of July is a celebration of the day in 1847, that Mormon pioneers first arrived in the Salt Lake valley. The 24th of July is almost as big a celebration in Utah as Independence Day. Fireworks stands get left up all month long. Fireworks are allowed three days before and after the two July holidays.
So, the rains are coming. The late summer monsoon rains. But, here’s the thing, even with a monsoon, Utah is still a desert. So, if we get the rains they are forecasting, and there’s guarantee they will, it will be a desert-level monsoon.
Seattle, where I grew up, gets about .7″ of rain in July, .88″ in August and 1.5″ of rain each September. That’s about 3″ of rain between now and the end of September. On an average year.
We are hoping for an above average monsoon season. The weather god are predicting about an inch and a half.
Pray for rain and stay safe
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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