My last rainfall was on September 8, 2017, which was 106 days ago. I am not sure of what the exact record of consecutive rainless days is for my immediate region of northwestern Arizona, but this current dry run is close to that or already beyond it. Meanwhile, for Las Vegas the all-time record for a totally rainless stretch is now 101 days, a number that will be surpassed by tomorrow at 102 (Sun Dec 24, 2017). Without any rain in the near term forecast, the new Las Vegas record is likely to pass 110 days, and possibly more, unless the so called “Ridiculously Resilient Ridge” breaks down.
The RRR is an abnormally potent and long-lived high pressure pattern in the northeastern Pacific that is acting like a wall blocking the normal winter storm pattern that should come in off of the ocean in the winter months, providing most of California’s rain and snow-based water supply as well as that of most of the southwestern desert and western intermontane states. The RRR is shaping up to possibly be a new weather phenomenon, as it also emerged in 2012-2013, 2013-2014, and 2014-2015, contributing mightily to California’s historic drought of recent years. It appears to be back for 2017-2018. While the RRR is suspected to be caused by climate change, this has not yet been proven, although ongoing data collection and analysis will surely be continued.
From the NWS Las Vegas forecast today on Sat Dec 23, 2017: “Dry conditions are expected in Las Vegas through the weekend which will bring the dry stretch to 102 days on Sunday. This would break the previous record of 101 consecutive days with no rainfall set in 1944. Also…if McCarran airport does not reach 32F by 12/31…it would be the first calendar year to have no freezing temperatures since record keeping began in 1937.”
Anyway, my winter-growing bulbs are coming forth despite the recent dryness. Shown below is Boophone haemanthoides from South Africa’s Western Cape Province fanning out in front of a golden barrel cactus I’ve had for 25 years since it was a seedling a few inches across. I’ve been helping them out with watering since nature hasn’t done so. This is the third winter of their return, and I am hopeful that eventually the bulbs will be big enough to flower. That may take another 10 years in my climate, especially if climate change results in even longer and more frequent dry spells than have already been happening since the 1990s. 
Also growing near the golden barrel cactus on the other side is Brunsvigia josephinae, another large winter-active South African bulb. I planted a half dozen of these beauties in 2015 but the harsh desert climate didn’t suit them nearly as well as their natural coastal fynbos habitat does, and all but one rotted in summer heat the first year. This is the surprising survivor, and I hope it makes it in the long run, although I’m more optimistic about related species such as B. orientalis and B. bosmaniae, which hail from drier and more desert-like climates closer to what I have to offer. The agave behind it is A. parrasana, a gorgeous species from the Chihuahuan Desert of northern Mexico.
Let’s hope for a decent winter rainy season. We made so much progress out of desperate drought in 2016-2017, and it would be such a shame to descend back into it less than a year later….