Rain in Palm Springs is rare enough that when it happens, the entire valley collectively forgets how to behave. If you’ve lived here long enough, you’ve seen these exact scenes play out over and over, like a desert-themed reboot nobody asked for.

This isn’t a weather report. This is a field guide.

1. AutoZone Gets Absolutely Hammered

There is no adrenaline rush quite like realizing your wiper blades disintegrated sometime during the Obama administration. The rain has begun. Visibility is optional. AutoZone is now a war zone.

Bonus points if you replace them in the parking lot while muttering about how it “never rains here anyway.”

2. People Get Extremely Weird, Extremely Fast

Why does someone who lives in the desert own a kayak? So they can deploy it immediately when a wash fills up and get 20 seconds of local news fame.

This is also when inflatable swans, pool floaties, and questionable judgment make their annual appearance. The rain is temporary. The embarrassment is forever.

3. Everyone Else Forgets How to Drive (Except You, Obviously)

Those “Road Closed” and “Flooded” signs are clearly just a suggestion, right?

Every storm produces at least one driver who believes momentum, confidence, and a mid-sized SUV will defeat moving water. The desert disagrees.

4. Social Media Becomes 100% Windshield Rain Photos

Thank you, everyone, for risking a traffic citation to document the historic moment of droplets on glass.

We believe you. It is raining. We live here too.

5. Everyone Tries to Wear All Their Winter Clothes at Once

Scarves, boots, jackets, hoodies, maybe a beanie. It’s 62 degrees and absolutely time to panic.

You have a narrow window to justify owning cold-weather clothing. Might as well layer up because this opportunity won’t return for another ten months.

Final Desert Reminder

The rain won’t last. The washes will clear. The news crews will pack up. And the desert will go right back to pretending water is a rumor.

Enjoy it while it’s here, drive like a functioning adult, and please put the kayak away.