Off the I-15

Weather can change quickly in the desert. One minute you are baking in the summer sun. Then storm clouds swoop down from the mountain and it rains, for a few minutes. The sun peeps out again, its hot, humid and a probably windy.

The weather can also change, at any given moment, as you travel across town.

Last night, Abby Sewell, a reporter at the Desert Dispatch, called me around 8:30 p.m. She had just been out on Soap Mine Road where a car got stuck in a flooded wash and its passengers had to be rescued by fire crews.

Not wanting to miss a precious rain shower, I immediately looked out a window at my house on the opposite side of town in Lenwood but saw no rain. It had sprinkled earlier in the day, but my dirt backyard was light brown and dry.

Across town, however, it was raining. Soap Mine Road flooded. A levy at the drive-in broke spilling mud every where, and rushing water took down a tree in Ms. Willis’ front yard out on Arbor Way.

All things considered, it was a pleasant evening in Lenwood. My roommates spent most of the night sitting on the back patio.

Jim Harrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Las Vegas, said spotty weather is common in the desert. He said sometimes it is raining on one side of the street and dry on the other. Last night, I think that street was Barstow Road.

Do you have stories or photos from this recent spell of weather? Share with the community here at “Off the I-15″ or in a gallery at www.desertdispatch.com.

Aaron Aupperlee | city editor