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When heavy rain comes to dry land

A good rainstorm can have dramatic effects in the Southwest.

Daniel Terdiman Former Senior Writer / News
Daniel Terdiman is a senior writer at CNET News covering Twitter, Net culture, and everything in between.
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Daniel Terdiman
As far as the eye could see, the dry land was overcome by the rain Kathleen Craig
The navigation system shows the outside temperature at 64 degrees just minutes after having been in the 90s. Kathleen Craig

WINSLOW, Ariz.--I'm standing on a corner in...

Well, if you're an Eagles fan, you get the picture.

Actually, I've just arrived in this town near the Meteor Crater--which I'll be visiting Sunday for a story and photo gallery for my Road Trip around the Southwest--after a long day on the road, and much of it was spent navigating through a heavy rain storm.

At first, it was odd that the outside temperature was dropping precipitously from the high-90s into the 70s and then the 60s.

After a powerful rainstorm, the dry land alongside Arizona's I-40 quickly became totally saturated. Kathleen Craig

But then it started to rain. A notable thing, I thought, driving through mid-July, mid-day, mid-Arizona. But it was just a few drops.

Then the skies opened up, and it began to really come down.

And next thing I knew, the bone-dry land opposite Interstate 40 was saturated. It was truly a site to behold, and I was deeply happy I wasn't standing at the bottom of a narrow valley anywhere near there at that moment, as it seemed certain that a flash flood had sprung up nearby.