Let it rain
Water flooded the sidewalk and gutter in front of the Moab Arts and Recreation Center at 100 North and 100 East during a short but intense rain shower Thursday, July 5. Thursday’s downpour dropped nearly a third of an inch of rain in less than an hour. It was the first recorded precipitation in the Moab area since April. Thursday’s storm increased the total precipitation to 1.61 inches since Jan. 1, according to the Canon Vista weather station. In an average year, about four inches of rain would have dropped by now, for a total of 9.02 inches by the end of the year. The lowest recorded annual rainfall was 4.32 inches in 1898. There is hope. Last year’s thunderstorms dropped more than two inches of rain in July alone. (Kristin Millis/Moab Sun News)