freaky January rain

Ah, January! We look forward to the "cool" temperatures this time of year brings. I just looked it up to be sure, so here are the facts:
The average low temp in January is a bone-chilling 57 degrees. These are the nights we put blankets on the bed, though it stays warmer inside at night, over 70, due to the brick walls absorbing heat during the day and releasing it at night.
So 57 for overnight low (that's 14 degrees for my metric-using friends) and the January average daytime high is 90 degrees  (32 degrees Celsius.) I can't really consider 90 degrees cold, but as it is dry heat and cooler than most of the rest of the year, I usually find it pleasant and comfortable.
Along with this cool dry time of year we get DUST. Red dirt dust that coats and covers everything on a daily basis.  If the table is washed off in the morning you can write your name in the dust covering it in the evening.
The rainy season peaks in July and August, and then after the rain completely stops in October we don't usually get another drop until possibly a light short "mango rain" shower in April. But the real rains won't begin until later in June.

So January is supposed to be dry and dusty.

Last Tuesday night around 8pm I heard a noise on the metal roof. It sounded like rain drops, but I knew that it doesn't rain here in January. "What is that sound?" We just weren't sure, so I stepped outside...and it was just sprinkling a bit! I thought it was odd and exciting but certainly it wouldn't sprinkle for more than 15 or 20 minutes. Well, I was wrong. It kept lightly raining ALL NIGHT!
The next morning everyone was wearing thick puffy winter clothes and jackets and commenting on how crazy-weird the rain had been. And then it rained again, and more, until finally we had 4 chilly days in a row with off and on light rain!
On Thursday the temperature hovered around 70 degrees all day! People started wondering if it might snow. I knew better than that, but really these 4 rainy days in January were quite the anomaly. I don't know if this was because of el niño or what, but it was pretty exciting while it lasted. Saturday and today Sunday have been a return to normal, the high temperature today was 92.  Well, almost normal... the rain has made it less dusty for a few days! :)