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Welcome
to the Mojave Desert and the wonderful community of Twentynine Palms.
Ever since my first time here in 1979 I have fallen in love with the
raw beauty, power, and constant but subtle changes of this land.
Located in Southern California, the Mojave Desert is part of the great
desert ecosystem of the southwest and encompasses more than 25,000
square miles. The climate is characterized by extreme daily temperature
changes and an average annual precipitation of less then 5
inches.
Some of the most
well known areas are Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley, and the
Mojave National Preserve. Other less known areas of interest are Amboy
Crater, Mitchell’s Caverns, Hole in the Wall, and the Kelso
Depot, just to name a few. All of these are within a days drive from
here.
Monsoonal moisture
had invaded but is moving on. This year we had some pretty good storms
but luck was not on my side for good lightning shots. Almost
all the strong storms took place during the day and when I was at work.
I did manage to get a few shots of some small storms that took place
during the night, but they were way off in the distance. We did get
some much needed rain. The latest was on August 30th at a whopping
amount of 0.15 inches. Total for the year now stands at 3.96 inches.
Temps are cooling off as we transition from summer to fall. Daytime
highs are between 100°-105° with the night time lows
averaging in the lower 70°'s.
Astronomy buffs,
meteor showers this time of year are kinda sparse. You can try catching
the September Perseids on 9 September which you should see
about 5 and hour or the Delta Aurigids on September
28th which again will only produce about 5 an hour.
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