The Snowflake Chronicles

Monsoon Season and Forest Fires

7 Rahmat 163 B.E. – June 30, 2006 A.D.

July 1 is the beginning of monsoon season. July, August, and September is supposed to be the rainy season her in Vegas. For the past few years, there hasn’t been a lot of rain. There’s been lightning in the mountains and forest fires to go along with the lightning. The fires have already started this year, some started by dry lightning and some by human stupidity.

Las Vegas is in an interesting position when it comes to forest fires. When there are fires in Arizona, the wind blows the smoke our way. When there are fires in southern California, the wind blows the smoke our way. When there are fires in the mountains around Las Vegas, the wind blows the smoke our way. No matter where the fires are in this area, we get the smoke. The aroma unique, especially when the fires are extremely bad; I had a boss once who said it smelled like a bar. I always thought it smelled like an ashtray.

Now to the monsoons, a few years ago Las Vegas had its ‘hundred year flood’ and all (or at least most) of the streets were curb deep in water. Since then the city and state has put in flood control and water retention basins. They even fixed the Charleston underpass so that it supposedly wouldn’t flood. The only problem is it hasn’t rained a lot since, at least not enough to test the flood control measures. This monsoon season should be interesting. I mean the last ‘hundred year flood’ we got was in the twentieth century and it’s now the twenty-first century. We due for another ‘hundred year flood’.