Diamonds From the Sky

Yesterday afternoon we had a beautiful sun shower.

Growing up in Missouri and Kansas, I don't remember sun showers. When it rained there, it was usually cloudy from horizon to horizon, gray skies in every direction.

Here in the high desert Southwest, that is not always the case. Often on a sunny day, a small patch of clouds will pass overhead and it will start to rain. I have driven down a highway and seen rain pouring off to one side while the sun was shining off to the other side.

Sun showers happen in the afternoon when the sun is lowering in the west. At our high elevation (4,300 feet) skies are especially clear. The sun, at a lower angle, shines brightly with blinding light. Then, a patch of cumulus clouds moves overhead and it starts to rain. Big clear drops of water pour from the cloud. The sun, shining under the cloud, illuminates those drops of water and they sparkle. Like diamonds from the sky! That is what we call a sun shower.

There is another angle to the diamonds description. In the desert, water is precious. As of the first day of fall, our 2010 rainfall has totaled only 8.94 inches. Through all those weeks... through all of winter, spring and summer, our rainfall has totaled less than nine inches. Believe it or not, we are a little ahead of normal this year and everyone is talking about how green the desert looks! Those raindrops truly are diamonds!