Close this window. The 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act, [23 U.S.C. Â§ 158], requires that States prohibit persons under 21 years of age from purchasing or publicly possessing alcoholic beverages as a condition of receiving State highway funds.
Desert soil is thin and dry and cannot absorb a sudden rainstorm and there are few plants to absorb water. The rain rushes down hillsides and mountains and overflows arroyos, flowing into roads and homes in its path. They can occur suddenly and areas far from the actual storm can be flooded.esert soil is thin and dry and cannot absorb a sudden rainstorm and there are few plants to absorb water. The rain rushes down hillsides and mountains and overflows arroyos, flowing into roads and homes in its path. They can occur suddenly and areas far from the actual storm can be flooded.
Sandstorms -- also called duststorms -- are caused by strong winds blowing over loose soil or sand, and picking up so much of that material that visibility is greatly reduced. The widespread abundance of loose sand in deserts makes them the most common locations for sandstorms to form. In desert regions at certain times of the year, sandstorms become more frequent because the strong heating of the air over the desert causes the lower atmosphere to become unstable. This instability mixes strong winds in the middle troposphere downward to the surface, producing stronger winds at the surface.