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In some parts of the Sonoran Desert, there are
pine tree forests and snow like on Mount Lemmon at the top of Sabino
Canyon, but most of the desert is dry and frost-free. When scientists
talk about deserts, the most important characteristic of these places
is that they are dry. Some deserts are "hot" deserts;
the Chihuahuan, Mojave,
and Sonoran deserts are hot. Some deserts
are "cold" deserts" like the Great
Basin Desert that gets its moisture from snow. (Map
of the Deserts of North America)
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These are some of the reasons the Sonoran
Desert is dry:
- It rains on the average 11 inches each
year.
- The desert is in the rain shadow of
mountains. That means that most rain that comes nearby
falls to the west of the desert. Mostly dry air reaches
the desert.
- Most of the time, there are no clouds
in the blue Sonoran Desert sky. Clouds hold moisture.
Without clouds, moisture evaporates into the atmosphere.
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