NEW MEXICO'S AUGUST SKY
by Judith Liddell
The New Mexico August sky wondrously is ever changing – a respite from the blazing heat of early summer.
As I drove towards Santa Fe from Albuquerque early in the afternoon, puffy white clouds bubbled over the horizon. The light reflected off the top, accentuating their whiteness. They resembled a pile of whipped cream, and I had an urge to reach out and dip my finger in them. The underside was various shades of gray – a hint of weather changes to come.
During my hour’s drive, the gray became more pervasive, and as I dropped down into Santa Fe, the lower edges of the clouds were very dark. They looked as if they were unraveling where the moisture escaped, much of it not reaching the ground. The few drops that survived formed muddy spots as they landed on my dusty car.
When I emerged from a building in the late afternoon, many of the puffy clouds were disappearing into a foreboding darkness. Thunder began announcing its arrival with loud proclamations. As I began driving, I became enveloped in a dark cloud and large raindrops pelted my car. Tumultuous claps boomed between flashes of lightning. However, on either side of me, the sky was a deep azure blue, laced with puffy clouds. The light reflecting through the clouds created a double rainbow, and in some places the sun’s rays shone in large streaks and resembled a religious painting. Summer rain in the desert is so different from other times of the year where the clouds are laid evenly across the sky like a dull blanket.
When I reached Albuquerque, I was relieved to see puddles. “Wonderful,” I said to myself. “I won't have to water my potted plants this evening.” However, when I pulled into my driveway, only two miles to the east, it was apparent the rain had not made it to my house. Another characteristic of summer rain - some parts of town can receive precipitation, while others have been eluded. In fact, a deluge of rain can make a narrow path through town. When this happens, all the rain runs off into the large arroyos. Despite warning signs, fearless youth still play in the arroyos when it appears dry, not realizing that rain in another part of town can cause the deep trench to fill suddenly with water that can move at speeds of 40+ miles per hour. Every summer, rescue squads have to attempt to pull people from the arroyo as they are swept by.
The summer rains in the southwest are called “Monsoons”. The word has its origins in the Arabic “mausim”, meaning wind shift. The Monsoons in the southwest are very different from the ones I experienced when I lived in Hong Kong, where the rain came in solid sheets, accompanied by high winds blowing first in one direction and then in the other, as without purpose, and lasted for several hours. New Mexico’s Monsoons occur when the moist air funnels northward from Mexico and meets the dry desert air. The rain in any given location lasts only a short time.
Most of the time you can literally wait it out; however, I still keep an umbrella under the seat of my car, borne out of the habit of necessity from my many years living in Seattle.
Driving on the highway in New Mexico always gives me a sense of expansiveness, from the vast, unending sky, even with the mountains sitting solidly on the horizon. I feel like I am sitting on top of the world, even though I am only 5-7,000 feet above sea level. In August, the pattern and shadows of the clouds create a depth that heightens this experience.
Later on that evening, I noticed the sides of the mountains beginning to turn a salmon pink. When the early Spaniards arrived in New Mexico, they named the mountains Sandia, meaning “watermelon” in Spanish, to describe this phenomenon. When I stepped outside, I watched the sun hover before it disappeared. The fading clouds were painted shades of orange and gold.
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