More Rain

We had rain last night, second storm in May. It came down hard and soft for hours, but only gave us half an inch. Probably won't get more today, but it is possible there will be further storms this month. The way the weather is going, it seems that a storm pounds in Oregon and Washington, then flows down into Northern California off of the Pacific. And that still leaves us open for a Pineapple Express from Hawaii in the summer, since normal flow in summer is from that direction anyway. Or down from the North Pacific, which you really notice out at the coast since the North Wind is so bitterly cold and stirs up the surface water and drags the nutrients off the sea bottom, feeding the fish, chilling the water so it can hold more dissolved gases for the plankton and fish to eat, and keeping the California coast cold and foggy all summer. But those Southwest winds do come sometimes. It would be amusing if we got rain every couple weeks, all summer. Very unusual, but interesting. Probably would cause extra fires from all the shrubs growing more and the associated lightning storms. But we'll see. For now, we're still behind on our rainfall totals for the season, and still in drought, and El Nino generally results in big rains, starting earlier, so maybe we'll get a serious storm in August, like we used to, complete with fires and flooding and big hail storms and potentially snow in the high Sierra. Maybe.

 

Even if we get rain storms a few times a month all summer, which would be VERY unusual since it is normally very dry from May to late October, I would still ride a scooter or drive a convertible here. I will continue to drive with my windows down and sunroof open since that's what I own. It must be tough living in the Midwest where hailstones and tornadoes are a serious threat all summer, unlike here in California. We don't really get tornadoes, since our Valley isn't wide enough to grow big twisters (F0's happen very rarely), and our hail storms might tear leaves on trees but they won't dent your car or kill you. And there's often a tall tree to catch the lightning so getting hit by lightning in California's rare thunderstorms takes real effort. And now that the East is noticing earthquakes (foreshocks to another Charlotte or New Madrid quake?) I have to wonder how they'll handle it if the big ones hit there? Will they move to California? Will they leave the country? Will they rebuild in shame after mocking my state for a century? Do they really think they'll be welcome here?

Just keep in mind that nearly all the predictions about quakes in California are completely wrong. A stopped clock is right twice a day, so rarely someone gets it right by accident, but mostly its just paranoid nuts making claims that are quickly shown wrong. I know a guy who predicts currency crashes about every two weeks, and has been predicting this for about 18 years. With the high frequency, he's sometimes right, about other currencies, but overall its crying wolf over and over. I learned not to make so many predictions, and to be cynical when other people make them. Most of the time, they're wrong.

 

It is possible, therefore, that we will have more drought, and that the El Nino won't give us rain after all. This would be a shame, but it is possible. The upside is that's even more nice weather for bicycling, scooters, motorcycles, and convertibles to ride around in. And really nice weather for high Sierra hiking. So enjoy that.