Still a desert?

[Scott P]

Is SE Utah still a desert? How much rain does it have to get before it's desert status is revoked?

So far Moab has seen 4.38 inches of rain this month. Hanksville has seen even more. Other places have seen 5-7 inches. In contrast, Seattle has seen 0.45 inches of rain so far this month. Se Utah is seeing 10-15 times the amount of rainfall that Seattle has been seeing. What's going on?

[rockgremlin]

Past October precip records for this region have been shattered, and we're only half way through the month!!

[stefan]

i have often heard the figure 10 in / 25 cm of average annual rainfall or less per year.

but of course that's an average, some years can be much higher. for example, i forget the name of the desert in chile. one of the driest places in the world. during an el nino year a little while back ... seeds 100 years old bloomed for the first time.

[Scott P]

i have often heard the figure 10 in / 25 cm of average annual rainfall or less per year. but of course that's an average, some years can be much higher.

Yep, I was kidding.

for example, i forget the name of the desert in chile. one of the driest places in the world. during an el nino year a little while back ... seeds 100 years old bloomed for the first time.

It's the Atacama, the world's first or second driest desert. The city of Calama was colonized hundreds of years ago and weather records go back since it was settled. In 1991, half an inch of snow fell. This is the only time that it has been known to rain or snow there. Some of the smaller mining towns in the area have never reported rain or snow.

Sometimes Arica (this is the area where it rained during El Nino) is listed as the World's driest place, but only because it is a major city. The interior is drier still. The only place that can compare in dryness is the Dry Valleys in Antarctica. It has been estimated that it hasn't rained or snowed there for at least the last four million years.

[DickHead]

Rush Limbaugh is causing global warming with all the hot air he expells, thus shifting the planets weather patterns....