Desert Rain

The Mojave Desert has been pounded by nearly 5 days of rain showers that could result in another beautiful wildflower bloom next spring.   As noted in Chris Clarke's Coyote Crossing, the downside is that invasive plants also benefit from the rains, and could lead to a bad wildfire season.  Indigenous plant species do not provide as much fuel for wildfires as some of the non-indigenous species (and are less nutritious for foraging animals like the desert tortoise), and previous rainy seasons were followed by wildfires that can wipe out acres of old-growth vegetation that will not grow back quickly.

Below are some pictures of the swollen Mojave River as it passes through Victorville, California on Wednesday.  The photographs were taken during a break in the weather, but heavy showers resumed in the Western Mojave Desert on Wednesday night.





Comments

  1. desertsandbeyondDecember 23, 2010 at 12:19 AM

    Yup. We've had the same problem down here by Palm Springs. See my pics at: http://desertsandbeyond.blogspot.com/2010/12/winter-stormnature-notes-122310.html

    ReplyDelete

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