After the Storm



What a difference a day makes!

While Monday's winter storm headed east, Tuesday brought sunny skies with temps in the high 50's.  By Saturday, we should be seeing close to 80 degrees F.  The rain we received is a boon to Sonoran plant life.  The ocotillo will soon be cloaked in green leaves and jauntily capped by fiery orange blossoms.  The prickly pear will sprout tiny new pads vulnerable to hungry herbivores--at least until their spines mature and harden.  Creamy yellow and apricot buds will be companions to the new growth.  Light red flowers will glow like rubies on the hedgehog cactus.  Buckhorn chollas will sport hot pink blooms.  Desert zinnia, bahia, and Mt. Lemmon marigold will blanket the desert floor like a crazy quilt of white and yellow.  And seed that has remained dormant for many years will finally germinate as grasses and wildflowers finally able to bask in the warming sun.   This year, the timing has been just right.  It's a good year for color in a desert that, by mid-summer, is often a monochrome of browns.

You can just make out residual snow on the Santa Rita peaks.