It Doesn't Rain in the Desert!?

I've been reading lots of posts discussing the harms of climbing on wet rock (sandstone in particular). My question is this, how does the rock get wet?  I've always been under the impression that it doesn't rain in the desert! I'd appreciate someone clearing this up for me since I'll be in Moab in a week and people keep mentioning rain. Deserts are dry, keep them that way. #LNT

It only rains in the desert when I wanna go climbing there.. 

It's complicated....did you know that Antarctica is a desert?

Don't be fooled - it never rains in the desert. Those wildflowers you see out there are plastic; that's why they don't need water. And don't Google "rain in the desert." Don't do it.

Chad McChadface wrote: I've been reading lots of posts discussing the harms of climbing on wet rock (sandstone in particular). My question is this, how does the rock get wet?  I've always been under the impression that it doesn't rain in the desert! I'd appreciate someone clearing this up for me since I'll be in Moab in a week and people keep mentioning rain. Deserts are dry, keep them that way. #LNT

What makes you think Moab is in a desert?

Las Vegas gets 4" a rain a year (on average).  The Sahara Desert gets 1 to 4" a rain a year.  So it does not rain much or often, but it does rain.

Matt Himmelstein wrote: Las Vegas gets 4" a rain a year (on average).  The Sahara Desert gets 1 to 4" a rain a year.  So it does not rain much or often, but it does rain.

And since the OP is talking about Moab, average annual precipitation in Moab is 9.02 inches. There are an average of 55 days annually with measurable precipitation.

Kelley Gilleran wrote: It only rains in the desert when I wanna go climbing there.. 

Omg this

Matt Himmelstein wrote: Las Vegas gets 4" a rain a year (on average).  The Sahara Desert gets 1 to 4" a rain a year.  So it does not rain much or often, but it does rain.

And Red Rock gets 11.6 inches every year on average (already gotten 6.6 inches this year!), even though it's right next to Vegas.  A mistake many visitors overlook when planning trips here is just looking at the forecast for Vegas.

The best forecast data is for Blue Diamond weather.

Ted Pinson wrote:

This doesn’t make sense.  Can you use a real unit of measure?

Are you not familiar with the Metric System?