By: Slade Ogletree
December 3, 2007
 Usually
when we talk about Baja weather we describe either the cloudless skies,
balmy temperatures, and the perfect breezes we normally see or we’re
discussing a major weather event like a hurricane, tropical storm, or a
very strong north wind called a “norther”. That simply because that
covers about 99% of the weather that we experience down here. This week,
however, a rare weather event occurred here in Southern Baja; a rainy
day! We had a couple of them, actually.
Rainstorms in northern latitudes with temperate climates they tend to be
quite common, even tiresome in many areas, but here they are a rarity.
This is a desert, folks. There were no watches or warnings, no scramble
to buy groceries and water, and nobody stayed up all night monitoring
where the center was. The clouds just lazily rolled in and by first
light the docks were wet and I could hear the spatter of raindrops
tapping on my boat’s cabin top. I have to admit that it was a relaxing
sound and I slept soundly to that rhythm for several more hours.
La Paz on a rainy day takes on a whole new look. Sidewalks, normally
bustling with daily shoppers are virtually deserted. The streets have
puddles that soon become small lakes as the storm sewers struggle to
flush themselves of leftover hurricane debris. Businesses rush to cover
merchandise stored under leaky roofs. Auto Parts Stores are clogged with
drivers needing new windshield wiper blades. In the process, several
months’ worth of accumulated dust is gently washed away.
A grey and drizzling Thursday gave way to an even greyer Friday. The
rain came and went throughout the afternoon. The rain never got too
heavy; never even close to the “gully-washers” that we sometimes see
with a summertime thundershower. If you’ve ever spent time in the
Pacific North-west, you know exactly what I’m talking about…just add
palm trees, cactus, and a little picante sauce.
While rare, rainy days are not totally unknown in Baja. Every fall and
winter the Pineapple Express, blows warm moist air from the Equator,
just south of Hawaii eastward toward North America. When that mixes with
the cold dry air form the north it creates rain. This is what normally
gives the California coast its wet weather at this time of year. When
that mix gets pushed far enough south, we get the rain. It usually
happens once or twice every year.
I remember when rains like this that happened a few years ago. A family
of five, with 3 kids ranging in age from seven to twelve, was living at
anchor here in the La Paz harbor on a 36 foot sailboat. That’s right, a
rainy day and Mom, Dad, and 3 kids crammed into a small living space
smaller than most kitchens. One of the “science projects” to keep the
kids busy was to put a cup in the cockpit of the boat to measure the
rainfall total. The kids then issued hourly reports of their findings on
the VHF radio.
Baja’s weather is mostly sunny and warm (or hot), but we do get a small
percentage of “less than perfect” days to round things out. It keeps our
life interesting. There is another silver lining to those rain clouds as
well; in about 2 weeks, regardless of its being December, the desert
will again bloom with springtime brilliance. It is just another one of
those things that makes Baja life so special. We are truly live in a
land of contrasts.
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