The Sonoran Desert is the hottest desert in North America. At the same time, the seasonal nature of the Sonoran Desert climate means that there is a wide range of temperatures. Winter lows can be as low as 32 degrees Fahrenheit, while summer highs can exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Sonoran Desert is one of the wettest deserts in North American and receives between 3 and 16 inches of rain per year. There are two rainy seasons in the Sonora Desert. One occurs during the summer and one during the winter. The summer rain tends to come in short and intense downfalls, while winter rains are longer and more mellow.
The Sonoran Desert has a wide range of seasons that vary from region to region within the desert. For example, the portion of the Sonoran Desert known as the Arizona Uplands has five distinct seasons: summer monsoon, autumn, winter, spring and fore-summer. The different seasons with their changing temperatures and levels of rainfall contribute to the biological diversity of the Sonoran Desert.
Despite te relative wetness of the Sonoran Desert, it does experience regular droughts. These droughts occur primarily in the season referred to as the fore-summer, which occurs during May and June. Many years, there is no rainfall whatsoever during these two months.
