WOW!

We are really getting pelted here. Everyone doing ok today?
The wind has kicked up too, it's spooky.

This message was edited Jan 18, 2010 2:41 PM

Just got back from a gf's b.day Tea. The roads are flooding. I am going to go check the rain gauge as soon as I find my wellies. I already know where my rain suit is. Sigh . . .
I hate the wet, but love the rain.
I think we were expecting less rain here, than what we've been getting. The weather report on the TV says it's only going to get worse here in the IE for the next couple of hours.
Drive safely all!
WIB~
SW

Love it, love it....we got an inch and a quarter here......

Sad to report that my rain gauge was turned sideways. Still had a tenth of an inch in it, though. I really have to find a better place to put that rain gauge. Sigh.
We now have a new lake, so I know we got more than a 10th of an inch of rain. I'll get a photo tomorrow. Right before I dig a channel for it to drain down to the creek. Sigh . . .
Don't worry, I'll wear warm clothes, rain suit and my wellies.
Glad to see all the rain! : - )
WIB!
SW

We must be close behind you, Sherry. Our screen room was holding water and the entire terrace was flooded. Came down wicked fast for a while.

Got 1.7 inches at my place. Just about 2 miles from your house Kathleen.

Hopefully we can water our veggies this summer. Yes!

Too bad I don't have rain barrels yet. I could capture enough to water all YEAR!!!

This is amazing...we're getting slammed. The streets are flooded and I just saw two floating cars...headed east...down Ocean Blvd.
My garden is a lake.

It's really spotty here. We aren't getting as much as some places just north and south of us. We get our water from the Sierra's though so hopefully I'll have water for my garden next summer.

Get you some rain barrels soon, really big ones DP. It's going to keep raining off and on through March and maybe into April. I'm going out to check on the new lake, and see if it seeped into the ground or if I have standing water. I want to see if the creek is flowing. We really like it when it runs clear. By the way, the name of the creek is Sweetwater Creek, and less than a hundred years ago it ran year round. One of DH's relatives told me that his mom remembered it was always flowing. Unfortunately, people up the creek have built dams to collect the water, which isn't legal, and also desecrated NAI sites on their properties. Got one guy who uses the creek as his personal dumping ground too. It really makes me mad to see all the trash in my section of the creek that was washed down from above. I usually go out on my daily walks with a trash bag to pick up other people's trash. It's gross, but I feel better when it is done. Some does blow in, but most of it is people littering.
Wow! Is right. Looks like t.storms and even tornandos in some areas of Southern California.
I just checked my rain gauge and we have a quarter inch of rain in there.
QG was right, the lake soaked in, but is reforming today.
After I get dried out and warmed up I hope to go out and get some photos. ES is going to check and see if the creek is flowing. Glad I have those bridges over the creek.
You all be careful and safe.
WIB,
SW

My daughter sent me a text at about 1:06 p.m. saying there was a tornado warning for HB and Costa Mesa. At the same time we were being pelted with rain and fierce wind gusts (good thing I just staked one of my smaller trees). I looked out the windows and there was so much water coming down like a curtain, I couldn't see out! I've seen it rain like that in the South, but never here...at least not until now.

Well, the worst has passed, but it sounded like a 747 was landing on the roof.

Wow, JD, I haven't seen cars floating down the street ever. Rolling without a driver, but not floating. I'm sorry your garden is now a lake too. Hopefully it will not ruin it.
Doss, it wasn't raining here at 11:00 when I started the previous post. But it was pouring after my Dr. Appt. ended at about 12:30. Freeways are really nasty to drive on right now, visibility is poor. People are still driving too fast in this weather.
Saw video on the news last night on the news of two boys waterboarding on the golf course in Murrieta, (town between us and Temecula). I had to laugh, they have the right attitude, go out and have fun. Of course they could be liable for damage to the greens in the golf course. I wonder how many other kids will take up the "New Sport". LOL!
It's hard to find something to laugh about today, but that visual was funny.
WIB!
SW

I'm glad you are okay, surfcity, that is some nasty weather. I don't worry too much til the clouds get that green tinge to them like they did last year when we had tornadoes in our area. I hate tornadoes. The roof isn't leaking, and I'm so grateful for that. The Jacuzzi room is partially flooded, but I know what I have to do to fix it. Of course I'll have to wait til the rain stops.
WIB,
SW

ES says Sweetwater Creek is flowing. That means it's raining faster than it can soak in. If I can get up my courage or the rain stops for awhile I'll go get some photos.
Weegy, KC are you guys okay?
WIB!
Jules

Crazy me was out in that crazy weather. It was horrible. Thunder, lightening and wind. Nice and calm now but not for long I hear.
Tell me, why do some people feel it's necessary to barrel through puddles drenching the whole front of people's cars (mine) and think it's funny? It's not funny, downright dangerous. And nobody slows down, people are on your tail not thinking you might have to stop real quick and by gosh, the guy that rear ends you better have insurance.
Ok, I feel better, I've vented.
So to answer your question SW...yes I'm ok!!!!!!
Be safe everyone.

Ditto to what Surfcity said about our area. Wow, the weather was like we have never seen around here. The sky was so dark, looked like it was nightime and as we looked out our front window, the water was trying to go down the street and the wind was pushing it back up the street....very bizarre for sure.
We were watching the local news as they were telling the people of HB that a Tornado warning was in effect.....hello, that's US!! Yikes It was coming down so hard that you couldn't even see through it and all my drains couldn't keep up with the amount of water that they were backing up onto the patio. I had a nice little lake for about 30 min.

If that was not a big storm cell, what is the next BIG one going to be like tomorrow evening? Run for cover everyone!!

Surf City, I know now what you mean about the 747. I was on the road to pick up my YS from school, when it hit. Zero visibility, lots of water coming at me sideways. So noisy I was deafened.
Then right when he gets out of school the rain stops. Got photos to download.
Does anyone know how to change it (pictures) back to the default setting? Some dingbat (me) accidently clicked on it to 'always do this', only now I don't know where it is putting my photos. I did find them, but not where they are supposed to be. They are coming out with DCN's instead of jpegs. ES is working on it, but not very hard.
Just sent him outside with a shovel and his brother, because of the lake forming out by the power pole. I already dug two drainage channels, today. One for the driveway by the house, and the other to drain what we are laughingly calling Lake Wicked. Digging drainage ditches hurts. Luckily the mulch berm I had the boys build this morning is allowing the water to drain down the drive, but also allowing secure footing for my friend who is staying in the Bounder RV right now.
I saw some clear sky, but it is clouding up again. They'd best hurry.
Totally understand your feelings about idiots who drive in the rain and hit you with those rooster tails. I'd like to vent about the folks who don't stop for the school buses that have their red flashing lights on, especially on rainy days. These are our neighbor's kids that are at risk.
I'd also like to vent about UPS drivers who block handicapped parking spaces. Had it happen to me today, again. After I had parked, the driver actually got out of his truck to yell at me. This happened because I had to back up so he could make the turn out, he accused me of trying to hit his stupid truck. I lost my temper, since I had been patiently waiting for that spot for five minutes at that point, was stressed out because I was going to be late for my appt., thanks to him. I wasn't polite, I wasn't tactful, I did express my opinion of his parentage, and when he threatened to call the cops on me, I told him to go ahead. I hadn't broken any laws, but he had. The building maintenance man saw the whole thing happening, and he said he would report it to the management company. I also told my Dr. who said they would report it too. I would like to report it myself. I know I shouldn't let this stuff get to me, but despite my handicaps I was ready to take him out for yelling at me like that when I didn't do anything wrong. I was in tears when I got to my appt. Too scary for me. I'm going to hide under the blankets with my kitty.
The rain brings out the worst in people sometimes.
Thanks for letting me get it out of my system. I feel better now that I've vented and me and Peek a Boo, are hiding under the blanket. LOL!
WIB,
SW

Wow, SW, I've never seen a UPS driver behave like that - he deserves reporting! Keep your camera in the car and just casually take a photo the next time someone does that!

We're fine. Being on a slope helps sometimes. We'll probably have a mess when it's over though. DH has dug many drainage ditches to direct the overflow, which helps, but with this type of rain, everything backs up for a while. Our poor neighbor was out in the mud with her horses today - they really get spunky with the wind and rain.

I remember my brother using his row boat to take people to their cars in a big storm when I was a kid. That was funny. I also remember driving down a street and water coming in my car. Either the rain was awfully heavy in the "old" days, or the drains weren't worth a darn! LOL

Around 3:00 this afternoon we really got hit. I'm loving it. My rain gauge is full. It holds 5". I'm not so sure how
accurate it is.

Doss, I thought Stanford closed the campus today?

Good Advice KC. I actually did have my camera with me, but by the time I thought of taking a photo, he had left. I'm going to have to find out who to report it to. I do have a witness, and I did tell my Dr. right after it happened. Really raised my blood pressure. I do not go looking for trouble, but I will not be a doormat. All 100 dripping wet lbs. and 5'2" of me, would have taken him out if he had touched me. He was wrong. Now I'm trying to figure who and how to report his actions to. My Dr. says the UPS driver parks like that every day, and Fed Ex does it in the upper parking lot.
My DH can't believe he would act like that either.
As I said, I've vented, and I do appreciate it. Doesn't make his actions right, but I am not going to let it spoil the rest of my day.
I got a surprise for you all as soon as I get done eating my stew.
claudcat, I don't know how to check the accuracy on your rain gauge unless you have another one to compare the volume of water with. I like the rain too, just not the tornadoes. We really do need it this year. As farmers, we are feeling the drought, and welcome the rain. Hopefully it will be dry enough in Feb. for DH to move his bees to the Almond Groves for pollination. Sometimes it gets so wet they can't get in, or have to use the forklift moving one pallet (4 beehives per pallet) at a time, so it takes longer. If rains when the almonds are blooming, the rain sometimes washes off the pollen, and the bees don't fly in the rain anyway.
Time to eat~!
WIB~
SW

Wolf, Your DH is a Bee Keeper...How cool is that. We do need the rain and this is the time of the year we should be getting it. Late spring rains do cause havoc with crops etc... I personally love late Spring rain and where I live it
doesn't really matter. This valley use to be known as "The Valley Of The Hearts Delight"....now it's known for
Silicone....when people ask me where is Cupertino? I tell them Apple/Mac Land. LOL
As far as my rain gauge it is what it is. :-)

At 3:39 AM a HUGE thunder clap woke us up! HUGE!
And yes, at 15:00 we got hit hard again. Rain, in sheets, thunder, lightning, awfully hard!!!

Report the awful UPS guy. phooey!
Christie

Rain is good, claudcat, but I am concerned about the possibility of mudslides, especially in those burn areas. We just need a little break in Feb. so the bees can pollinate the Almond groves. Lots of other fruit trees bloom around then too.
If you trust your rain gauge, that's good enough for me.
Personally I love it when it rains. I just don't want to be out in it, unless it's warm or I'm properly dressed. LOL!
I was really hoping to see photos of those cars JasperDale was talking about floating down Ocean Blvd. yesterday, on the news. They didn't show them, rats!
I am not looking forward to a deluge, and have to try to fix a place where the rain is causing treacherous footing. I'm going out with my staplegun and some plastic sheeting to see if I can take care of the problem. Still haven't found my wellies. : - (
Am wearing my wool socks so I don't care if my feet get wet, the wool keeps 'em warm.
Got to go and deal with that.
Take extra care.
WIB,
SW

Stanford campus held classes although there were power outages in the morning. DH went there to chair a PHD defense and there was power where he was. Now there's a tornado warning for Santa Clara county! It did pour here today and the swimming pool is up wto the top of the tile. May have to do something like that. I saw on the news that some of the local reservoirs are spilling over although some of them are still pretty empty.

We have more tornado and water spout warnings here, too, plus the wind, flooding, etc.

SW, I found a "dry day" calendar when I was looking at the Fallbrook weather page and it said except for the first few days of Feb, it should be mostly dry. It only goes 30 days out.

http://dryday.com/30dayWeather/US/California/Fallbrook.html

I was looking at the Farmers Almanac and we should have some warm days from the 9th - 11th of Feb. too.
Here is what I was dealing with on the back porch yesterday. Sadly most of it is flooding out my Jacuzzi room, and the cats and I don't like it much!
Being me and using the materials at hand I did what I could about it.
First photo. The rain has been blowing onto the porch and since my wisteria grows through the lattice (it was there first), we have to make some accomodations for it. I placed the plastic up with my trusty staple gun and some help from my God Son. It helps because the dogs don't use their dog houses but would rather sleep on the back patio on the lounge chairs covered with old area rugs, keeps them warmer and off the cold concrete since I placed them next to the house. The shade cloth helps keep the normal rain from getting the whole patio wet, like the plastic better to tell the truth.

Most of the patio here is also covered with polycarb panels to keep the fire wood dry, but there is a gap where the wisteria goes through, so this is my temporary solution to keep people dry since I can't put up a regular gutter here. Once again I'm using my trusty staple gun, and plastic sheeting, and some help from my God Son, who kept say he didn't see how it would help. It wasn't raining at the time we did this. It soon became apparent and I think he had to see it in action.

A view of the lower end.

The plastic doesn't quite reach the end of the porch, but the poly carb panels (which were left over from building the gh) almost do reach the roof line here. So we do get a few drips from here.

Since I don't have a rain barrel, and I do have this empty wagon with the wonky wheel, I've been using this. So far we've emptied it out the wagon, (the wonky wheel doesn't help, but it was available!) three times last night and I still have to talk one of the guys into emptying it this morning. DH doesn't understand why I bother. The cats and I want a dry Jacuzzi room, that is why!
If you park the wagon up against the wall it catches those drips from the edge too.
Living on a farm as long as I have, and being raised a Marine Corps brat, I learned to use the materials at hand to get the job done. Since DH is so often gone, working the bees, I've learned to be really creative. You should see my chicken pen. LOL!
I really love my staple gun, which reminds me, I need more staples.
This is the last one for now.
I hope it inspires you to be creative, and show those young 'uns we ain't stupid just because we are old, and unconventional. LOL!
It works! Except for the muscle power required to move the wagon full of water even I can do it.
WIB!
SW

Works for me Jules!! You wouldn't believe what I used to divert the leak from the hot water heater until plumber got here. LOL

Sorry you are all getting hit so hard, I won't tell you what it's like here right now. But it will change this afternoon, new front on the way. I know you need the rain, but hope it doesn't cause too much damage. I'm glad for the rain we're getting because it has warmed it up a bunch!! My garden is looking sad from the freeze we had.

I had to take a run in to town to the post office and in the 30 minutes I was gone, there've been some changes at my place. I have a really great spot for my partial shade salvias, really great soil, super conditions under a big old top heavy avocado...yep, you guessed it. Top half gone, not only taking away the partial shade, but flattening a bunch of 7' tall salvias. Hopefully they will come back from roots. Of course, they will have to be moved to elsewhere anyway, but there aren't many spots with the part shade I need for a lot of mother plants. One of the other spots is protected by an assortment of tree/shrubs and one of the tall dodonea/ hopseed bushes has gone over. Back later...

I just took a walk around during a break in the rain to check on things. Our neighbor's sycamore tree is behind and just to the side of my greenhouse and I saw it waving in the wind like pick-up sticks - it's a weak and unhealthy tree. It looks to be OK, though, bending more than anything, which is good - I've seen those things snap before and didn't want my greenhouse wiped out! Looks like the shade cloth on the ramada might go pretty soon (it's flapping in the wind), the steps to the pond have collapsed again (darn gophers!) and there are gopher tunnels collapsing all over the place, but otherwise it looks OK.

No watering for a while, that's for sure! LOL

The horses are rolling in the mud.

And where are your camera's? I could cry. You'll have to come look at my daily walk to see why.
I did check the rain gauge after I returned from my walk and this is what I saw.

This past deluge of rain (even after a 2 day respite) is still causing a lot of problems here in L.B.
Yesterday a 5 block radius around me had no phone or internet service until about 3:00 p.m. today. The underground channels that hold the cables etc. were full of water and they had huge trucks all day pumping the water out of them and into tankards, then they hauled it away.
The storm drains were so full it all spilled over into the alleys, then into the sewers etc. and ultimately into the phone/internet challes as well...I assume. Who knows !
Everything here is water-logged...big time !

And we get some more tomorrow.....I heard about the flooding and cars stuck in L.B. while we were on our way headed North....more rain...okay, but hope no high winds or I'll possibly have trees going down. Guess this is the El Nino effect we'd been waiting for and doubting,huh?

JasperDale,
So glad you didn't float away on the past storm. It's been real wet around here too. Just glad that you are safe and back on line. If you've been off line for long, you'll have a lot of catching up to do.
I hope they fix the problem for you JD and it doesn't come back with the next storm.
Even worse is all the clean up! They've been pumping water out of housing pad where the old stream bed used to run, and into the storm channel.
Saw the most beautiful sunset today, Mt. Baldy and Cucamonga Peak were are reddish golden color. Hope that means the rain will hold off for a bit.
wc,gypsy, please have a safe journey north and let us know you get there safe and sound. We are such worry worts. LOL! No high winds. I didn't doubt El Nino was on it's way.
We go to the beach in late Sept. for a reason. Warmest water of the year and this year the water was warm for us! About 68-70 degrees. I still am hoping that it won't flood as bad as this past storm. I hope you are not going up the Coast Hwy. Conchita is due for another landslide/mudslide again this year.
WIB,
SW

No...lol....been to Nor Cal and back already last Tues.and Wed. Hope to not make any more trips up there for awhile, quite sick of both 99 and 101. Made enough trips in the last two months to last me for quite awhile.

Glad I didn't have to do it for a lot of reasons, wc,gypsy. My poor hinny would be so sore I'd never be able to sit again.
I was tired when I read your earlier post and was thinking, that gee, didn't she just get back from there, and are they still holding up the paperwork? Don't envy anyone driving in that mess. My DH headed up to Bakersfield last night and he'll be getting the rains before we do, but he wants to get those bees into the almond groves asap.
How did your salvia like the storm? The more I see of that Red Sage Salvia in the gh, and the little blue one I think is a salvia, the more I like 'em. Never met a flower I didn't like. Plants like cactus even have beautiful flowers. Those salvia seem to like my piece of the desert. : - )
Glad you aren't on the road again, but for those who are, be careful.
WIB!
SW