FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Around the Southwest, people are longing for seasonal rainstorms like a lost summer romance.
The weather pattern characterized by a shift in wind patterns and moisture being pulled in from the tropical coast of Mexico arrives like clockwork each year. It starts in mid-June and runs through September. Rain usually tags along.
But this summer is different. The Southwest is parched.
The Flagstaff airport is seeing its driest monsoon season in 120 years. Las Vegas has barely recorded any rain. St. George in southern Utah had none in July and August.
Meris Carmichael wants to lure the rain to Arizona in a tongue-and-cheek way. She’s been encouraging people to wash their cars — a perverse weather guarantee to ruin a shiny auto exterior with muddy raindrops.
Felicia Fonseca, The Associated Press
