Anyone else in SoCal enjoying the rain?

Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
The wind is howling and the rain is falling. Thursday and Friday last week great rain. Saturday a reprieve. Today the rain started later than forecast, but now it is falling steadily. Tomorrow, more rain. Whoot!

Really badly needed rain is good. Hope we get more rain.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
It is good for you . You have been needing it for a long time. Too bad it is so 'all at once'. Would be nice if spread out and allowed to soak in rather than run off. Good that you are getting a lot of snow. Lake Tahoe... over 100%?

We are good up here in the PacNW. No more drought.
 
Jul 27, 2011
4,990
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
Received flash flood alerts/warnings on my cell phone this afternoon and on Friday afternoon. Starting to let up a bit now; but it came down hard most of the late morning and afternoon today. Got a fire going in the fireplace at home. :D I'd say we've been enjoying it.:dancing: Looking forward to seeing a greening of the islands in springtime. Promises to be seasonally scenic at the northern Channel Islands and Santa Catalina. Perhaps the High Sierra Regatta at Huntington Lake will resume.:yeah:
 
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walt

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Jun 1, 2007
3,511
Macgregor 26S Hobie TI Ridgway Colorado
I havent been around this long enough to know but might make for an unusually good cactus flower bloom on Catalina Island. This picture is from last July. Cactus are amazingly tough plants..

cactus1.JPG
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Doesn't lot of winter rain in LA just mean wicked brush fires in the foothills in the summer??
 
Oct 9, 2008
1,739
Bristol 29.9 Dana Point
image.jpg
This is from our back yard in OC early Saturday. All of So Cal is green.

However, no sailing in awhile. Seas were 12 feet and wind 25-35. Plus rain. Very unusual ocean conditions for this area.
 
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Jul 27, 2011
4,990
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
Doesn't lot of winter rain in LA just mean wicked brush fires in the foothills in the summer??
I didn't check for a correlation between winter rainfall and wild fire activity later in the same year, but I don't think so. The worst fires tend to occur late in summer and in the fall toward the end of our dry season when the "fuel" is driest. Santa Ana winds, which are dry offshore winds from the desert, tend to occur in the fall as well; i.e., the beginning of that season. These spread the fires toward the coast. So, dried out scrub and brush plus hot, dry desert winds combine in the fall to worsen the fire danger. There's no reason to think an unusually intense wet season would exacerbate that fire risk and danger later in the same year year.
 
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Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
I didn't check for a correlation between winter rainfall and wild fire activity later in the same year, but I don't think so. The worst fires tend to occur late in summer and in the fall toward the end of our dry season when the "fuel" is dry. Santa Ana winds, which are dry offshore winds from the desert, tend to occur in the fall as well; i.e., the beginning of that season. These spread the fires toward the coast. So, dried out scrub and brush plus hot, dry desert winds combine in the fall to worsen the fire danger. There's no reason to think an unusually intense wet season would exacerbate that fire risk and danger later in the same year year.
When I lived in Covina for a year, locals told me that the rain which caused the plants to grow and green up that Skipper shows, would brown and die in the heat of summer, creating fuel for fires.
 
Jul 27, 2011
4,990
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
I suppose there's also a matter of scale and intensity. More potential fuel more fires; perhaps. But what kind of fuel and what kind of fires? The worst recent fires have been attributed to the drought. Many trees have died and thus have provided a lot of high fuel (not understory brush). Those devastating kinds of fires probably would not follow directly from good (normal) annual wet seasons. Low understory brush fires of the type I believe you're citing, might, however. I recognize that I did allude to that latter type above.
 
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Jul 27, 2011
4,990
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
From a publication of the climate scientists:
"Beyond the direct effect of weather (primarily winds) during a fire event, climate primarily affects fires in two ways. Warm, dry weather during the months immediately preceding the fire season reduces moisture content of both live and dead fuels, increasing the likelihood of ignition and spread of fires. In contrast, high precipitation a year or two prior will increase the volume of herbaceous fuels, which later increases the probability of ignition."
 
Sep 8, 2014
2,551
Catalina 22 Swing Keel San Diego
When I lived in Covina for a year, locals told me that the rain which caused the plants to grow and green up that Skipper shows, would brown and die in the heat of summer, creating fuel for fires.
It depends on how dry the summer is and how long it pushes into October before any fall rain starts... Typically our wildfire season in late September through October. Your thoughts are perfectly logical, heavy winter rains help grow more vegetation that will eventually become fuel, it just depends on how the summer goes if it becomes a threat.
The really interesting thing is to look at the reservoir levels throughout the state, they usually get updated weekly. Several counties are out of drought conditions but there are a few inland counties that still are. The most interesting thing right now is that, last I heard, the Sierra Nevada snow-pack is at about 125%. The spring time snow melt will have the greatest effect on filling the inland reservoirs.
For right now, the one word I have to describe SoCal... soggy!
 
Jan 18, 2016
782
Catalina 387 Dana Point
It really came down on Sunday. Back yard was flooded. Something like 3" of rain in a day.

Went to the harbor Friday afternoon to check on the boats. Wasn't looking like a day to go sailing :)
 

LuzSD

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Feb 21, 2009
1,009
Catalina 30 San Diego/ Dana Point, Ca.
Its a lot for a short period of time, but I love it too. Next weekend series race should be fun, with sun and maybe some wind.
Its beautiful to see plant perking up and greening up. and sure, with growth comes more fuel for fire season. Isn't that pretty normal for everywhere? We live on a canyon and so far, everything is holding here......fingers crossed.
 
Nov 22, 2011
1,192
Ericson 26-2 San Pedro, CA
View attachment 131973 This is from our back yard in OC early Saturday. All of So Cal is green.

However, no sailing in awhile. Seas were 12 feet and wind 25-35. Plus rain. Very unusual ocean conditions for this area.
Not to mention all the crap that is going to be washed out to sea via the flood control channels. Expect to be dodging that for quite some time.
 

Rick D

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Jun 14, 2008
7,132
Hunter Legend 40.5 Shoreline Marina Long Beach CA
Speaking of things being washed out into the bays... In I think 1980, while sailing our 26' T-Bird after big storms, I hit a submerged piece of timber and broke the hull/keel seam. Lots of water incoming and an emergency haul! Earlier, we had seen a seal lounging on a floating sofa! Hilarious. Be careful out there for a while. That debris find itself into the bays.