Batten down the hatches California!

It's seriously stinky weather here in Silicon Valley, but not terrible or anything. We are getting some big wind gusts and a lot of rain. Though, we've gotten very little rain here so far this winter, and we need that big snow pack to insure we have no water issues in the summer.

My friend in SF said it seemed like the ocean was coming at him horizontally from all directions.

Funny... I was expecting this storm much earlier. We still haven't had a drop of rain here at the beach, but it's been super dark all day, enough to have to have lights on in the house in the daytime.

We'll probably get slammed around sundown. Stay dry, everyone!

Ditto down here in Longo. It's gray but not super dark. I do notice the wind has kicked up a little. So I guess that means the low pressure zone is moving. (So to speak.)

http://www.weather.com/maps/news/severewinterforecast/westernussatellite_large.html?from=wxcenter_maps

Right now, the IR satellite makes it pretty clear why SF was getting hammered. There's a finger of arctic air apparently just flung at the bay area...

I didn't realize you had weather in KALI.

We do. And we also never call it Kali. Or Cali. Or anything like that. It's like saying "TEXI". And never say "Frisco" either.

I hate to say it but a lot of people say Cali.

Never say Frisco when you're in Frisco -- now that's good advice.

Well the So Cal natives call it STORM WATCH 2008. We midwest transplants in So Cal call it rain.

I just went to the grocery store, parked, and took a ferry over to the front door.

So that's what that wet stuff is falling from the sky!

It's a good day to have a roof over my head.

Best,

Geoff

Right. It's not the rain. It's that we're not SET UP for rain.

I was in Seattle with my lady awhile back, driving along the road, and I looked to the side and asked what that long trench-like thing was next to the road.

"You mean the ditch?"

"The what?"

"The ditch."

"Come again?"

"The ditch. You know, where the rain goes when it runs off the road."

"The what?"

"The rain."

"Come again?"

"The water that falls out of the sky?"

"Oh! Right."

True - we're pretty spoiled in the weather department, but just for some perspective, 10" of rain is nearly our normal annual average. To get that over a couple of days is problematic, due to our infrastructure and the many hills and mountains that have been de-foliated due to recent wildfires. Not to mention the large amount of people in our state who have NO CLUE as to how to drive in rain or snow.

I know, just pokin' fun. I live in So Cal as well so I see the problems 2-5 times a year. I am a little puzzled by the lack of storm drains and other preparations. So Cal gets at least one or two really good (for the area) downpours a year.

True - we're pretty spoiled in the weather department, but just for some perspective, 10" of rain is nearly our normal annual average. To get that over a couple of days is problematic, due to our infrastructure and the many hills and mountains that have been de-foliated due to recent wildfires. Not to mention the large amount of people in our state who have NO CLUE as to how to drive in rain or snow.

Actually there have been scientific studies that refute that -- if there are so many transplants from other states with supposedly superior driving skills, then why are they too involved in accidents? The answer lies not in driving skills but in poor tire maintenance. No matter how good of a driver you may be, you're SOL if you're driving in the rain when your treads have gone bald.

You see, if they drive faster, they'll get out of the rain sooner, and everybody will be safer. Makes perfect sense.

I've never once heard 'Cali.' The only shortened terms I've ever heard are 'Norcal' and 'Socal,' as Norcal and Socal are basically different states as far as the locals are concerned.

When it rains like this weekend, I stay clear of the city streets and try to keep to the freeways. Intersections with stoplights are deathtraps.

We had 8" last night - It's been raining since before xmas day, the soil was totally saturated and the 8" last night was the final straw and has flooded all the rivers. Areas are being evacuated, people pulled from stranded cars etc.

Enjoy yours

Good point Elson... and also, no matter how good your treads are, you're bound to hydroplane if you're doing 75 MPH down the freeway in your SUV while it's pouring down rain.

Not if you're protected by one of those little propellor thingies people put in their tow hitches.

Here's the real deal: it's so few and far between rains in much of California, we get a much larger accumulation of oil on our roads than places that get a natural rinse more often. Not only are our people less used to driving in bad weather conditions, but the accidents really start happening at the very start of the storms, when the oil starts mixing with the rain and chaos ensues.

Then, since our infrastructure isn't set up for rain, we get things like dangerous flooding in urban intersections, or 10" deep puddles on our freeways. That's why we seem to freak out with the "STORM WATCH '08" stuff on the news, and so on. It really screws things up, especially here in the LA area.

The difference is major. When a dry, arid place gets dumped on with a lot of rain - particularly after horrible fires - bad things happen. The infrastructure can't handle the sudden influx of rain (so it floods), the ground can't absorb it fast enough because we don't have the right kind of plants (so it floods), and the mountains and scorched earth begins to slide. This doesn't tend to happen in the Midwest. I'm also a Midwestern transplant. It's a big difference out here.

Well, I've heard SoCal (down here often in camelcase, as I have it, but sometimes separated with a space) my whole life (ie, since the 50s) but I don't think I've ever heard anyone say Norcal or read it in print before.

Not to say it doesn't happen, mind you. It's been a while since I've been in... uh... Norcal and so, you know, the idiom may have evolved.

It's interesting Jeff doesn't go for Cali, either, since he's only 20 or 30 miles from here.

But I for sure hear Cali and read my local friends write Cali frequently enough.

yeah, oil and water dont mix

I never hear anyone calling it Cali unless they're from out of state.

I hear La La Land for Los Angeles a lot, mostly from people who are out of state, although not always. My perception of the speaker often drops about 15 IQ points after hearing this. Sometimes I'll even hear it from our own publications, but most of the time, it's from people who are out of state. I find this more annoying that Cali, although I don't like either, but really can't get up enough energy to be bothered about either!

This sucks.

Raining all day.

Been sitting at this computer all day working, and now that I