First, it pours; then, it rains

Thunder booming into the early morning hours and strobes of lightning illuminating the dawn sky announced a quickly-moving, violent desert storm coming in from the northeast. Suddenly, it was pouring, rain bouncing off the dry desert sand and running down the street. It didn't last long, but finally settled into a more gentle rain for an hour after the thunderstorm moved across the valley and butted against the foot of the mountains.

We need the water, but too much rain in not enough time causes flashflooding and damage. The aftermath of more steady rain soaks into the sand and filters into the aquifer, which is what we need in the valley.

Watching the weather channel, I can see that this may be a precursor to the storms coming in through the Gulf of Mexico, predicted to make landfall somewhere in the LA/TEX region of the Gulf. Maybe we'll get more rain as the storm travels across the southwest?