[dsp1234]

Where did you get the precipitation data for those places, because the wikipedia pages for the two areas show that Carcoss[0] gets a bit less than Palo Alto[1] for example. 11 inches vs 16 inches respectively.

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcross_Desert

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palo_Alto,_California

[cjensen]

The wikipedia page for Carcross Desert says 50cm. That's almost 20 in.

[Retric]

It says receiving less than which is not 50cm. Further, semi arid desert is defined as less than 50cm. Really Palo Alto like much of California is semi arid, just look at the native plant life. Check out the map: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-arid_climate vs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_climate