Mountain views~Nature Notes 120210

I pulled over and stopped to take this picture on Sunday, after feeding my horses an extra meal. Those are our two desert mountains~Mt. San Jacinto on the left (with the clouds) and Mt. San Gorgornio, on the right (with clouds, too). These two "guardians" are what makes our desert a desert. Mt. Jacinto blocks the eastward moving clouds from the Pacific Ocean and the two of them block clouds moving from Los Angeles into the desert. Thus, we don't get much rainfall in the Coachella Valley. It is difficult for water-laden clouds to rise up over the 10,000 foot Mt. Jacinto, so they drop their water on the western side. We are on the eastern side and only receive about 4 inches of rain each year. Our main rain comes during the monsoon season when the tropical storms come up from Mexico. Yes, we occassionally get a nice rainstorm during the rest of the year, but not in the amount of the monsoon rains. Nature Notes for Thursday, December 2, 2010.