Which desert is formed by rain-shadow conditions east of California’s Sierra Nevada?

The Great Basin Desert is formed largely by rain-shadow conditions east of California’s Sierra Nevada.

It occupies much of Nevada and extends into parts of Utah, Oregon, California, and Idaho. Moist air from the Pacific loses much of its water as it rises over mountain ranges, leaving the basins and valleys to the east comparatively dry. Repeated mountain ranges and enclosed valleys give the region its characteristic basin-and-range landscape.

The Great Basin is a cold desert rather than a hot desert. Winters can bring snow, and high elevations support sagebrush, pinyon-juniper woodland, and alpine environments. The Great Basin Desert is also associated with playas, salt flats, and isolated mountain ranges known as “island ranges.”

It is often confused with the Mojave Desert, which lies south of it and has warmer conditions and different characteristic plants, including the Joshua tree. The Great Basin’s defining vegetation includes big sagebrush rather than Joshua trees.