Thunderstorms

They've been threatening thunderstorms and dry lightning, the kind that starts forest fires, for days now. Yesterday was grey and overcast, humid, and smoky. The sun never quite came out, but there was no rain here. The big thunderstorm that started in Nevada flowed over the mountains and passed just north of Nevada City, missing us. Normally storms come from the Pacific and flow East, disappating in the high Sierra and usually vanishing over Reno, or turning into Virga (rain that doesn't hit the ground) across Nevada. The storms this summer have rained a fair bit in Nevada and crescendoed their violence into the Eastern Sierra, which is usually dry and beautifully bare away from the rivers full of trout and mosquitoes, all summer long. Its been peculiar. California is in drought, but Nevada is getting more than is usual share of rain. Arizona too. The Monsoon weather coming up out of the Sea of Cortez has been really interesting and is likely a pattern that will stabilize. Take that, "Global Warming". Maybe some of those pleistocene lakes will get some water in them after all. I still think they'll need human help, in the form of the Columbia River Canal through Oregon and down into the Carson Sink and Lake Lahontan, but that's a big project it would be worth suffering immortality to see happen.

This morning, around 6 AM, it rained, big thunderstorm drops, for about 10 minutes. Really lovely, strong smell and all. "Is your sunroof closed?" my Dad asked. "Yes, two days ago." It was the day he'd washed his car. The family car washing-rain curse affects the whole family, not just me. Back when the first warning was issued and the blue sky was covered in Grey, I closed my car sunroof and waited for hail, lightning, and big rain. I would welcome more rain, even though it isn't showing up on radar. It would help put out the big fires burning, and knock the smoke out of the air. Both Dad and I have sore throats from the smoke. Its very irritating and listening to him clear his throat and cough for an hour every morning is worrisome. He's been doing this for years, but even so, its worrisome.

I wish the economy in the foothills was strong, that it was more than lawn mowing services, medical, and a skeleton crew of govt and retail to keep the bare minimum of care available for the retirees. Business is not good here, and its worse everywhere else. You have to go down the mountain into the Flatland to find anything resembling actual business, and there's so many people, so much competition, its hard to find a niche with any safety. As a risk-avoidant person, the whole thing is frustrating.

At least the weather is good. While we get wildfires in summer and fall and heavy smoke, we also get cooler weather than the Valley. It was 104'F in Sacramento yesterday, but barely 95'F here. Big difference for 2600 feet. They're closer to the Bay and the Delta Breeze, but we feel it more. Just heard a big rumble of thunder. For Easterners and Midwesterners, thunder is so common as to be unnoticeable. Here? Once or twice a year. Conditions are usually wrong to get thunderstorms with actual lightning. A bit too dry, and the valley isn't wide enough to build the big clouds before its hitting the Sierras and either dropping the rain high up or crossing over and turning to Virga across Nevada's many mountain ranges. We still get weird storms, and sometimes tornadoes in weird places like Marysville, but its rare. The blizzard early this year was a good example of very weird weather, but that's California. People pay extra for that, and ignore the lousy economy for basic business. I think the weather is just about Agriculture and Tourism, and that's all it allows. A pity. I don't speak Spanish, and that's much of the population in farm country. It would be nice if the folks with the amazing talents in metal working were building businesses and making their ideas into real products, but they don't seem to do that. A pity.

I just heard the first firebomber of the day head past, going to the Swede's fire near Lake Oroville. 2000 acres and growing. If the last bit of lightning, plus the bits I can't hear because they're further away, sparks more fires, the crews are going to be extra busy after this storm. The most hilarious part is the storm, and the lightning, don't show up on the radar. But they're happening. How's that work?