For this week I am lucky enough to get to visit the Sonoran Desert. My grandmother lives in Tuscon and I have been fortunate enough to go through this desert many times. The national park here that is most worth a look (in my opinion) is the Saguaro National Park.
The Sonoran Desert is approximately 100,000 square miles of terrain crossing Arizona, California, Baja, and Sonora, Mexico. This region is on the leeward side of the Sierra Nevada's as well as smaller mountain ranges creating a rain shadow effect for part of this region. The moisture has been wrung out of the air as it passes over these mountain ranges and this contributes to the dryer climate of the Sonoran Desert. The desert is also right up against the Gulf of California which does give some seasonality to the region. Prevailing wind direction matters, since not all mountain ranges are created equal and the distance to water is important. This gives two distinct seasons for this region, as well as native tropical biota.
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