We are so blessed here in the valley to have rain, while much of the country is literally digging out from several feet of snow. Yes, snow is pretty, but we do like the sun and the temperate clime that we enjoy here in Palm Springs almost daily year round. Right now it is 59 degrees. No shovels here. No drawers filled with wool scarves, gloves and mittens; no closets by the door with heavy coats and snow boots at the ready. Actually, when the rains first come each year, Dick and I have to dig out our umbrellas, as they’ve been in retirement for ten or eleven months!

We will likely see new snow on the distant peaks at higher elevations, when the skies clear. (Of course, to enjoy snow, one need only take a tram ride up to the mountains at 8500′, less than a half hour from the heart of the Village of Palm Springs.) To watch our weather, go to PALM SPRINGS WEATHER, click on Ten Day Forecast to see more.

It’s most likely that when the skies clear again, we will see a new blanket of snow on the mountains at  higher elevations. This spectacular view will be juxtaposed against palms and pools being enjoyed here on the desert floor.

Right now it’s fifty eight degrees which is, believe it or not, rather cold for us. What’s the temperature where you are today?

Earlier this afternoon, I drove up Racquet Club Drive to photograph the distant mountains capped with snow. It seemed odd that, as I was looking at the snow, a pickup truck drove up behind me and a pool guy dressed in shorts and tee shirt got out and retrieved his skimmer pole to go tend his clients’ pool. Here we are on the desert floor with everything in bloom, palm trees all about us, temperatures in the high sixties, and I’m looking at new fallen snow in the mountains that surround Palm Springs.

Yesterday, it was foggy here and a soft rain fell most of the day. The mountain tops were obscured by the rain clouds. Our home sits at just 400 feet above sea level, so here we experienced the rain. At higher elevations, that is to say, around maybe 4000 feet and up, the precipitation fell as snow. Today is once again beautifully clear and sunny, being more true to our reputation of “always sunny Palm Springs”.

Palm Springs is located in the Coachella Valley and is a part of the Sonora Desert. Thus being in the desert, we can proudly boast to having well over 300 days of sunshine annually, and only about 5 inches of rain each year, yes that’s right – 5 inches! Our weather is incredible from October through May and many current residents moved to Palm Springs shortly after visiting here in the “winter”(which we call “the season”) and falling in love with our weather. The average temperatures for this month – February, are a daytime high of 72-75 degrees, and an evening low of 43-45 degrees. How does that compare to the weather where you live today?

A bit cooler weather is here for a few days now and we are having brief spells of light mist, which means that, above us rain is falling at the intermediate altitudes, and snow is falling at the higher elevations. This phenomenon is glorious to watch. Most of the time the mountain ridges trap the clouds and we receive no precipitation.  But when we hear a forecast of rain on the other side of the mountains, we will occasionally see those big fat clouds seemingly straining to cross over the uppermost ridges of the mountains toward our valley, and we even sometimes see  grey/blue clouds of rain or snow in the upper valleys!

Late yesterday afternoon, there were views so lovely that I rushed home for my camera to record the sight of silvery clouds hovering along the ridges of the mountain tops and in the low lying valleys in the mountains. Later in the evening, the sky above was accented by rose colored clouds, in this shot below, taken from our back courtyard.

A change in the weather is always somewhat exciting to see, as we do consistently have so much sunshine. I always think of the Steve Martin movie, LA Story, in which he plays a weatherman who approaches his daily California weather forecast board, arms laden with sun magnets for the weather board. Yes, the weather outlook is sun, sun, sun and more sun.  And we do love our sunshine!

We have an easy answer – move to Palm Springs! Here we enjoy well over 300 days of sunshine annually. Right now the temperatures are just fabulous with daytime averages in the low eighties and nighttime ones in the low-sixties. To me it does look rather strange to see newscasters and others on TV wearing turtlenecks, wool suits, velvets, winter coats and parkas, while here people are still comfortable in sandals and shorts.

When we moved here, we gave away our winter tires, chains, window scrapers, and those “Yak Tracs” which gave traction to all our shoes. One of our friends in the home loan business told us that when he moved to Palm Springs from the East Coast, he got rid of about 100 business suits. Now he mostly conducts business in Aloha shirts and flip flops year round.

So, if you are tired of grey skies, cold winds and snow, we invite you to visit Palm Springs . . . experience the superb weather, and stay a while.

The article appearing in The Desert Sun on June 8, 2008, was authored by James Cornett, who in turn was reviewing a book on diet and health by Steven R. Gundry, M.D., who stated, “Experiencing the desert’s summer heat, even for brief periods, is invigorating because it ‘activates our longevity genes’ by producing ‘compounds known as heat-shock proteins.’ These proteins destroy old unproductive cells, leaving new, healthy cells in their place.” He goes on to say that “Gundry espouses the same benefits when experiencing cold weather”, as does he (but that’s another story).

It’s nice to see that our choice to live in a beautiful and sunny place naturally encourages our cell structure to replace itself with new healthy cells.  Rejuvenate your body naturally – come live in the desert!

Well last Sunday morning Mother Nature pulled a big surprise. The rain started at about 6:30 a.m. and dropped .86 of an inch of rain in less than an hour! In some areas it was quite a deluge, temporarily flooding streets. During the rain, we couldn’t even see the mountains which are only about three blocks from our home. The one great clap of thunder echoed down the canyons, causing our dog to emit a loud and startled bark. It rains here so seldom, that he has forgotten what it is and won’t venture out into it anymore. All in all, it began our Sunday morning on an exciting note.

Many people who haven’t visited Palm Springs before are surprised upon their first arrival to see our valley so close to the rugged mountains which rise abruptly from the desert floor and ring our valley. It is in these beautiful mountains that snow fell this past weekend.

Snow in the mountains is not entirely unexpected, but when it does happen, it is always awe inspiring and creates excitement in the valley. We awoke this past Sunday morning to see the crests of our majestic mountains covered with new fallen snow, while we had had a gently falling rain in the valley.

Cameras came out to capture the view. Those eager to get closer to the snow took a little trip up to Mount San Jacinto. So the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway was a very popular venue this weekend for desert dwellers eager to romp in the snow. See the aerial tram going up to the mountain station which sits at over 8300 feet, near the peak of Mount San Jacinto. (The lower tram  station is located just at the north end of Palm Springs in Chino Canyon.) Here’s a glimpse of visitors who’ve just disembarked from the tramway at the mountain station.

When you think of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley - think desert landscapes, palm trees, mountains…and now – mountain snows…we truly have it all.

For most anyone who doesn’t live in the desert, precipitation in the form of rain or snow is not something necessarily to be celebrated. Here in Palm Springs, it IS an event to be celebrated.
 
Of course, there are exceptions. If you had a leaky roof and didn’t know it, this last weekend you found out. Or, if you were a tourist here for the weekend to play golf, this rain might have seemed like a nuisance.

However, with less then an inch of rain this year up until the weekend – 0.19 inches to be exact, the new rainfall, measured at .8 inches, was really appreciated. We received more rain in a single day then we received in all of 2006-2007!

So, what is the weather like here anyway?
Most of the time, day after day, Palm Springs weather is just fantastic. All year long, spring, summer, fall and winter we have sunshine. Ok, it can get hot, really hot, in June thru August, but it’s almost always sunny. After a while, this gets really a bit laughable, as in the film LA Story when weatherman Steve Martin forecasts sun, sun, sun and more sun – his arms full of sun magnets.

So, it was a bit cold and damp (40% humidity) for a couple of days. This only served to remind me to appreciate how wonderful it is to live here, knowing with certainty that the warm sun will quickly return, and we will again bask in its warmth. The weather high today, Tuesday December 4th, was 75 F; our mild sunny weather, as predicted, has returned.

We are fortunate to have other sources of water in Palm Springs – the area is an oasis of palms, lush gardens, and verdant golf courses.  Still, a rainfall is a special event to those of us who live here.
 
Great weather is but one of Palm Spring’s excellent attributes. If it’s snowy and cold where you are, click on Sunny Palm Springs to see all that Palm Springs can offer.

P.S. Remember, if you love the winter snow, it is often just a tram ride away at the top of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway on Mount San Jacinto, just at the north end of town, or you can drive to the mountains around Idyllwild, Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake, all within two hours or less.