El Nino, the Spoiler

When Halloween is over, many older Americans head south, seeking sunshine and warmth for the cold northern winter months. They call us “Snowbirds,” because, like many birds, we fly south.

Normally this is a good solution for bones that creak and muscles that ache in cold weather. We bask in southern sunshine and count ourselves lucky to be here.

This year, though, we aren’t so lucky, for El Nino has intervened. El Nino is the weather pattern that brings one cold front after another roaring in from the Pacific Ocean, clouding the skies and dropping rain on the Sonoran Desert. 

Our neighbor Val Bay shared his photo that tells the tale of Tucson skies this winter.

This cloudy weather is a reminder of how lucky we are to be here most years. We can be thankful that El Nino won’t last forever and that this year the desert will gloriously bloom, although we won’t be here to see it. 

Copyright 2019 by Shirley Domer