Someone asked if an elevated cap was the reason for the relative lack of storms over the el Pinacate volcanic region. I can't answer the question in detail, because this a region with little observational data. But, here are some thoughts:
The marine boundary layer over the Gulf of California is usually shallow with a strong stable layer on top - this boundary layer may just flow around the small area of high terrain.
The north end of the GoC and southwest Arizona is a region where low-level divergence prevails during the day and thus is dominated by subsidence (Mike Douglas has a paper about this flow regime).
The convective temperatures, when a deeper boundary layer is present, are usually too high for afternoon heating to trigger storms. Thus, storms around the north end of the Gulf tend to move into the region from more substantial higher terrain, propagating on outflows.
A deep, subtropical boundary layer, with light winds, sometimes allows local storm development in this area. As is often said - more research is needed for a better understanding of the convective regime around the north end of the GoC.
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