Ann Nairie Upshaw, age 11, of Continental Divide, New Mexico for her question:

Why is rain scarce in New Mexico?

The sunny state of New Mexico is part of the southwestern desert country. It is called the Land of Enchantment because of its beauteous hills and prairies, its shady canyons and its rainbow colored rocky slopes. It is true that showers are few and far between. But the driest regions get five inches of rain a year and some parts of the state get 20 inches. In winter there is snow, perhaps two inches in the valleys  and 200 inches on top of the high mountains. The northern part of the state has beautiful high mountains with lush green meadows dotted with stands of scrub  oak and aspen trees which are a bright green in summer and turn to reds and gold color in the fall. 

These high mountains are the mighty Rockies—and we can blame them for the shortage of rain in New Mexico. Most of the rain clouds drift in from the west, along the Pacific Ocean. The high peaks force the clouds to rise and shed their moisture on their western slopes. The winds that rise over the peaks and down the slopes are too dry to shed much rain. However, they leave snows on the top. The snows melt and the water runs down the canyons to valleys below.