Monsoon

New Mexico is the worst state in the nation in terms of drought.  We're a desert and we don't get much rain to begin with but when things start going to 50% of normal you get water supplies getting tight.  So it has been a great relief that July saw an early monsoon (seasonal rainy period caused by hot air uplifting from the mountains in the west drawing up moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of California). 

The morning will usually be clear and by 1 PM (when these were taken) you will have thunder clouds starting to build

Then you wait and see if they actually turn into storms or the peter out.  This year we've had our fair share of storms.  It was the 10th rainiest July on record with around 2.7 inches of rain for the month.  But the storms are very localized and there was one big one a couple of weeks ago that dumped 3 to 4 inches in an hour not far from where we live.

One very nice side benefit from this is something we hardly see at all here:

GREEN!

Here's hoping it will keep up through August.