Growing up on the east coast, when someone asked me to envision a desert, Arizona was likely the first image to come to mind. Its place in old western and cowboy movies definitely helped, but with sand and dirt coving the ground and Cacti growing at every square inch, it's hard not to view it as such.

Rocks in the AZ desert
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In actuality, Arizona's desert dominance is a lie... sort of.

Why Arizona Isn't "The Desert State"

Sure, you can look outside almost anywhere in Arizona and see vast expanses of desert as far as the eye can see, but that's not the whole truth. Arizona actually has one of thee most diverse climates in the United States.

A lone cacti sits in the shadow of a mountain in Arizona
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In fact, only about one-third of the state is considered "arid desert", what we normally think of when we think of deserts. The rest is split between semiarid (one-half) and humid. This is the kind of climate you'd expect from somewhere like Tennessee and Georgia.

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What Makes Arizona's Deserts Special?

Okay, so if most of this state's climate is more similar to the East Coast than the common perception it holds, why does that perception stand in the first place?

Dry desert in Arizona
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Arizona is actually the most unique desert state, as it's the only state in America to be at the intersection of four separate deserts. The Sonoran encompasses the central and southwest, the Mojave in the northwest, the Chihuahuan in the southeast, and the Great Basin, which (theoretically) extends across the Nevada/Utah border, spilling into Navajo Nation.

[Britannica][Visit Arizona]

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