| Rainshadow Desert |
| Joshua Tree National Park is located in southern California on the eastern
end of the broad mountainous belt called the Transverse Ranges, which stretch
from Point Arguello, 50 miles west of Santa Barbara, eastward for nearly
300 miles to the Eagle Mountains in the Mojave Desert. Unlike most mountain
ranges in North America that run north-south, the Transverse Ranges lie
on an east-west axis. |
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| The area of southeastern California is a rain shadow desert. The rain
shadow effect is produced by the high mountains on the west, which block
the movement of wet winter storms. Coastal storms moving east collide with
Mount San Jacinto (10,804 ft.) and Mount San Gorgonio (11,502 ft.) dropping
most of their moisture on the west sides of these mountains. Land on the
east side receives much less rain, which results in a desert environment.
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| During late August or September occasional tropical storms move into southern
California from the south. These storms end up on the east side of the Peninsular
Ranges and can dump a considerable amount of water in a short time. Some
five to 10 inches of rain may fall in a few hours, representing a large
portion of Joshua Tree’s annual precipitation. |
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http://www.nps.gov/jotr/nature/features/deserts/rainshadow.html
last modified: 04/04/02
web editor: Sandra kaye |
