Rain, after 4 Months of Waiting and Watering

Finally some rain.  Spring was a bust and the desert is parched.  Everything is brown and it has been a hard time for the wildlife.  The promised El Nino did not materialize and the irrigation could not keep up with dry weather.  I struggled to get the front garden area at the Painted Pony Resort looking presentable for guests partly the result of irrigation and partly because of a major pruning last winter where 15 yards of materiel was removed.  Expecting good El Nino rains I heavily pruned all the plants and was relying on the rains to kick start the garden and allow new growth which would cover any pruning errors.  But the rains never materialized here in the valley and I have been watering the plants by hand to supplement the irrigation.  The yearly rainfall total currently stands at 1.33", not good for the first 6 months of the year but if the rain continues and the monsoons are strong this hardy landscape will recover.

The next day while writing the draft post clouds started to build again.  A large buildup resulting in the last photograph which dissipated with some rain in the Chiricahua Mountains but none on the estate.  A second buildup after sunset did deliver another 0.17" on the estate.  Good news for the dry conditions in the valley.

Rainfall from CoCoRaHS for the Painted Pony Resort

Rain with the setting sun over the Chiricahua Mountains

Panorama of the front garden after the rain

Storm clouds the next day which yielded another 0.17" of rain

Addendum:

One more photograph of the big buildup over the valley.

Brush Strokes.  The edge of a large dissipating cumulus cloud formation.

El Nino was a Bust

As fall approached the weather forecasts were all talking about the probability of wet winter.  Pacific ocean temps were up and the expectation for a strong El Nino and wet winter were high.  But the reality turned out to be very different.  December rains at the Painted Pony Resort totaled 0.39" while January rains totaled 0.88", then it stopped.  The fall and winter were characterized by morning and evening displays of brilliantly colored cloud cover but these did not bring the promised rains.  The 30 year average rainfall on the estate for December is 1.25" while for January the average is 0.83".  February's 30 year average is 0.64" yet the estate saw only 0.08" which fell on the first day of the month and since then no rain.  So we received a total of 1.35" for the period of December through February, while the 30 year average for the same period is 2.72", a 50% reduction.  The results of this dry winter was reflected in both plants and animals on the estate.  Plants in the front garden are just now beginning to put up new growth, even with irrigation and additional watering.  Stems on one front garden plant were stripped by hungry wildlife and I observed several rabbits dining on Ephedra another woody shrub.  The lack of winter cool season grasses and water may also explain why the mule deer which recently died on the estate came up to the buildings even when guests were in residence.  Hunger and lack of water may have outweighed the animals desire to avoid humans.  Although we are moving into a traditionally dry period hopefully some moisture will come out way before the monsoons.

Colorful October sunrise clouds over the Peloncillo mountains.

Rabbit chewed stems in the front garden.

Cottontail rabbits are dining on Ephedra, a woody shrub

The lack of cool season winter grasses has left the rabbits foraging for woody shrubs