It is monsoon season in El Paso, Texas. It arrived just in time for me to experience it. In some ways it is exciting, because it doesn’t happen very often. I sometimes think about what my response would be if this year’s visit to El Paso was the only one I knew.
Would I think that it was rainy off and on throughout the year? How soon would it be until I realized why El Paso was called the “Sun City”? It may be the only 9-12 inches of rain that fall each calendar year.
We are expecting more rain tonight. The Dry Line is just west of El Paso, so there will be storms through the evening and maybe into the morning. Rain here is amazing because within the minutes and hours that follow it dries—although the ponding water takes a little longer, but not much. Many times the rain also falls in sunshine. It is not uncommon for rain to fall on one side of the house and the sun shining on the other. Nor is it uncommon for one to see a distant rain storm falling from a singular cloud. Soon, the rain will stop and, seemingly for months, we can go without a cloud in the sky.
Rain in El Paso is as unique as El Pasois itself. It is definitely an experience to have and one of the many reasons why I have grown to love this wonderful place in the west.