OT - California storm

2 years ago

I think the below National Weather Service map is the best explanation I have seen as to where the most rain fell in the storm that came in on Sunday.

We live in the very dark blob just North of San Francisco, and locally we got about 4 inches of rain if you add up late Sat and Sun and Mon. We are now (for the first time this winter) slightly over our YTD "normal" amount of rain since Oct 1 (22 inches tot). We have been lucky and have not had any damage from any of these winter storms personally, although lots of huge trees came down (totally saturated soil b/c of prior storms the last 3 months plus 100 MPH winds will do that), and the power went out for tens of thousands of people. (On Sunday, the strongest rain and wind hit our area from this storm, and overwhelmed our sump pump in the basement for a while, as although the water was draining fine, it was coming down way faster than it could drain. The area of our basement near the sump got wet, but it is not "finished" - just ancient concrete and gravel, so not a problem. )

What is so remarkable about this storm is the amount of flooding and damage, and rain, that hit Southern CA. If you look at the map, that is evident. Folks who live there are NOT used to wet winters, properties and public infrastructure are gererally NOT set up for adequate drainage during days long deluges, and any rain at all can cause flooding. The news says that it is still raining in SoCal today. I hope everyone down there is safe - please respond if you live in that area. (Jeri, they said there was lots of flooding in Santa Barbara - how was it where you live?).

Jackie

Featured Answer

catspa_zone9sunset14

2 years ago

Livermore here was in some sort of weird rainshadow, due to Mt. Hamilton, perhaps, judging from storm direction, so only got about an inch of rain, for which I was actually glad this time. The winds were truly, truly terrible, though, with sizeable branches from neighbor's redwoods breaking and blowing into our yard the entire day and then some. I think I will be picking redwood bits out of my roses for some time to come. I agree it was good that it came after pruning the roses, less chance of damage there.

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Comments (11)

K S 7a Yakima
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Hang in there Californians! That was a crazy storm.
roseseek
2 years ago
Fortunately (?) we "lucked out" and only got hit with extreme winds here. Other than a load of Washingtonia fronds which blew into the neighbor's yard, no clean up and no damage. We were anticipating power outages but, thankfully, didn't experience any. It seems a whole house generator is much like earthquake insurance. Once you have it, you never need it. https://files.countyofsb.org/pwd/hydrology/Rainfall%20Reports/rainfallreport.pdf Otto & Sons out in Fillmore posted videos of their 8.57" of rain they received on Saturday and Saturday night. No thank you!
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erasmus_gw
2 years ago
I've been wondering how people have been doing in the storms in CA. Glad you're ok.

I empathize with those who had fallen trees, especially if they were as big as your oak, Jackie. That could be very dangerous. That's so much rain! I think we've had a big rain when it's just an inch.

I read that where I used to live in CA, Palos Verdes just south of LA, had some landslides or mud slides last year. Several homes were wrecked. I imagine there are more problems in that area from the storm.
jacqueline9CA
Original Author
2 years ago
erasmus - I have seen reports of damage from this storm in Palos Verdes - mostly homes sliding down hills or coastal cliffs. Since PV is a peninsula which sticks out into the ocean, of course there is more of that there than elsewhere.

roseseek - thank you for the link to the Santa Barbara County spreadsheet of rain and reservoir capacity - looks like 2 of the latter is spilling. We have 5 local reservoirs where my county gets much of its water - all of them were spilling a week ago - days before this storm!

Jackie
roseseek
2 years ago
@jacqueline9CA you're welcome. Thankfully, Susan in Santa Barbara sent it to me. I'd not seen it previously.
Sheila z8a Rogue Valley OR
2 years ago
I wish Ingrid would share how it is going in her San Diego County. I miss her writing and photos.
Ryan Coastal LA Zone 10b
2 years ago
Erasmus—I live in Redondo very close to your old home of Palos Verdes. It’s still raining pretty hard and hasn’t stopped raining since noon Sunday. For us 3 days straight of rain,m (literally no reprieve) is a deluge, even if it only hit the “torrential downpour” status once or twice. The original storm on Sunday had some wicked winds. Since half of my garden is on a rooftop deck, there’s a mess to cleanup later. But at least I finished pruning—last year we got similar winds in November and I had cane damage all over.

So far we’re up to six inches of rain. I have 3 rain barrels full which is an upside but I miss the sun. One more day…
erasmus_gw
2 years ago
I've been to Redondo Beach many times, Ryan. That's a lot of rain you got.

Sorry to hear that about houses sliding down hills and cliffs in PV. It is like a little mountain there. Very beautiful...some big cliffs.

Sounds like you got some bad tree damage, catspa.
sylviaww 10a, hot dry inland Socal
2 years ago
Here in Santa Clarita we’ve had about six inches of rain. One of my rose beds tends to flood, but nothing serious. So far we’ve escaped power outages and other problems, but ..l did see some roofers working in the complex today.
Can’t wait for wildflowers.
User
2 years ago
This is reminding me of what happened to us here in Tuscany in November. Global Warming sucks.Best of luck to all!