In it’s most typical form, which of course in reality varies all over the place:
– Over a day or so clouds roll in. Gray above. Fog over the mountains.
– Rain falls. Sometimes soft and soaking, sometimes surprisingly hard. Maybe a chill seeps into the air.
– Clearing clouds. Mountains come back into sharper view, with white snow on their upper slopes.
– Falling nighttime temperatures. Still, deep cold. Morning frost.
– A couple cool days. Blue, blue skies. Nighttime temperatures slowly rise.
– A few warm days. Bright sun, clear skies–the stereotypical vision of a desert winter. White disappears from the mountains.
– A few wispy cirrus clouds overhead. Which thicken, until clouds move in and one repeats the whole business.
Eventually, the warm stretches stretch out longer, until suddenly one realizes that it’s been a while since the last overnight frost or icy morning windshield, and the desert is beginning to bloom.