Steve Lopez: Witness to the devastation in Joshua Tree National Park

Rain in California had become like an old friend who seldom dropped in, and, then, all of a sudden showed up last fall and wouldn't leave. Atmospheric rivers lined up off the coast and pounded the state like sets of massive waves.

This had me wondering about the forlorn trees and plants I'd seen two years ago in Joshua Tree National Park, dying of thirst.

Might the rain have given them a shot at survival?

For the answer, I reached out to , an ecologist who has studied and written about desert plants and wildlife for decades. Cornett lives in Palm Springs, against the base of the Santa