Absolutely.
I'm don't know about the American West, but my understanding is that when the world is in a warming cycle, there is more evaporation, thus more rain, and desert areas such as the Sahara turn relatively green.
Conversely, if you are in a cooling cycle, the water tends to stay in the ocean, you get droughts and deserts expand.
I think we're cooling.
In a cooling cycle, water stays around as ICE, as in forming the Great Lakes.
You are correct...much dryer conditions during cooling.
Astroclimatologists agree. Sunspot activity is at an all time low, and we are headed into a grand solar minimum. This is associated with higher cloud cover and cooler temperatures.