Rain Is Different Here

In the burn areas, places that had fires in the last year or two, it will take much less for canyon walls to fall. The scrubby growth that held everything together was burned away.

People in scenic canyon homes are usually OK, not always. They always say they’ll rebuild.

When a storm approaches the Southern California coast, as is the case tonight, it’s a big deal!

Thank you weather.cod.edu

Rain leads the news in SoCal just like snow does in the Northeast.

Every area has some sort of natural Achilles heel. Ours is rain. Can’t live with it. Can’t live without it.

This is a semi-desert climate. We get our paltry rain in a very few large doses. The water is good for reducing fire danger and irrigation, but most of SoCal’s water comes from the Sierras, hundreds of miles away. Rain at my house isn’t quite as important as it seems.

The latest computer guidance says we can take around an inch of rain in an hour, up to three inches in six hours before we flood. Close call.

In the burn areas, places that had fires in the last year or two, it will take much less for canyon walls to fall. The scrubby growth that held everything together has burned away.

People in beautiful homes with spectacular views are usually OK, not always. Sometimes their houses fall. Other times something falls on their houses. They always say they’ll rebuild.

Irvine has a few large drainage channels carrying runoff to the sea. Always empty. That will change.

No snow for Santiago Peak–visible from the bedroom window. A quick estimate keeps the rain/snow line above 10,000 feet–higher than these mountains.

NERD ALERT — Feel free to skip the next paragraph.

In Connecticut I’d look for the 850mb 0C isotherm as a good rain/snow indicator. During this storm it will be close to 10C over me. These storms tend to be convective–so cellular. Rain amounts will vary greatly city-to-city.

Hopefully the storm’s mightest punch will be in the Sierras. If you start hearing of little mountain towns with a new feet of snow you’ll know we hit the jackpot!

Oh–people here can’t drive in rain. I’ll leave it there.

2 thoughts on “Rain Is Different Here”

  1. “Oh–people here can’t drive in rain. I’ll leave it there.”

    Well, thanks to Buffalo and Connecticut you’re well versed in driving in snow. But you probably don’t need that skill set there.

  2. Geoff =

    That 850 mb chart has been nice to the Tri-State so far (lol). After seeing 62 F at NWS Bridgeport on December 1st (a nice way to start December!)…looks like most precip this week will stay rain or a wet mix to rain. After showers on Tue and Wed, most of CT/NYC should see temps in the 45 – 48 F range with sunshine. I hope this pattern stays right through until the end of meterological winter (Feb 28th).

    As far as your weather in CA, keep in mind average temps have been above normal and precip has been WELL below normal almost every single month since you moved out there. While I agree it’s a semi-desert in parts of the region, you should see more rainfall on average.

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