Desert ecosystems have been characterized by Noy-Meir (1973) as"water-controlled ecosystems with infrequent, discrete and largelyunpredictable water inputs," with the limiting resource of waterarriving in short-lived pulses.  These dry climates are known tosupport regular, large-scale patterns of vegetation growth organizedinto evenly spaced bands that are separated by swaths of bare soil,and studies suggest that this may provide improved resilience todrought.  I will present a modeling framework for vegetation patternformation in drylands that treats storms as instantaneous kicks to thesoil water, which then interacts with vegetation during the long dryperiods between the storms. The spatial profiles of the soil waterkicks capture positive feedbacks in the storm-level hydrology that actto concentrate water within the vegetation bands. This flow-kick modelpredicts that variance in rainfall introduced through randomness inthe timing and magnitude of water input from storms decreases theparameter range over which patterns appear and may thereforenegatively impact ecosystem resilience.