Hot Hot Hot

I know "The Martian" was filmed primarily in The Valley of the Moon in Jordan, and that people occasionally live there.

Tho I can't understand why.

Eons ago, I visited a place called Baguio in the Philippines to do a little jewelry shopping. I know how the poor wet bastards on Venus must have felt. Constant rain while we were there. It gets fifteen feet of rain in an average year. Yes, fifteen feet. I can't understand why anyone would live there. Awful place, but very pretty.

The Hoh Rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula is a magical place, as I've posted before (maybe even in this thread?) Average yearly rainfall is 127.81 inches, or ten & 2/3 feet.

It helps if your fingers are webbed.

Big difference between a very rainy place just to look at and say, "Oooh. Pretty." and living in the rain. But you know that. If we had rain all year round at the rate we've had it the last few weeks, it would be more than your rain forest gets.

And the desert is very pretty to look at, maybe even visit.

Strange happenings today. There's a bright round thing in the sky that seems to be giving off heat. And it feels as thought it's causing my sinuses to dry up. Should I be concerned?

Only if you see your shadow, mate.

I see it every time I go outside. It's hiding on the deck waiting for me.

Now this is more like it! No rain for the past several days and it is 77.6 degrees. The record for this date is 80. The forecast shows only three days with rain or possible showers in the next two weeks.

As far as I am concerned, we can dispense with any more storms for the next couple of years; a nice gentle rain now and then is just fine. The largest of our reservoirs - a lake about twenty miles long - rose fifteen feet in six days, and is still rising from the continued runoff.

Still waiting to find out what it is going to cost to repair the damage from January's storms.

The drought is still shrinking. That doesn't mean it won't be back in force next year. And it won't bring life back to the hundred millions trees that have died in the last few years.

The precipitation was well out of normal range in January. We got a normal year's worth of rain in three weeks. The Sierra Nevada snowpack is nearly twice normal - it's the deepest it's been in twenty-two years. Hang on for spring floods.

After a few decent days, more storms are here. Had just over an inch of rain overnight and are expecting two to four inches today. Along with the rain, we can expect winds from twenty to forty mph, with gusts up to 70 mph. At least I'm not in Oroville.

_Howard wrote:

expecting two to four inches today.

So's the missus.

Power went off for three seconds, then back on for five seconds, then off for five seconds, then back on. This is such fun, listening to the UPS talk to me. I think it's getting confused.

This winter should be a good test for the house. It's the most severe winter we've had since before the house was built. Thus far I would give in a C+.

I heard this morning that eight inches was on the way — is that in your part of the state?

They have forecast as much as ten inches up here in the hills. I don't think that will happen. But they are predicting rain to continue for another five days. I think today was the worst of it, and we only got three inches so far. We're supposed to get a break for a few hours tomorrow afternoon.

When Mother Nature - the bitch - decides to end a drought, she doesn't have to do it so dramatically. We get it Mother; you're in charge. Now back off, okay?

It doesn't help my mood that my daughter is sending me pictures from Nassau in the Bahamas.

kilo wrote:

I heard this morning that eight inches was on the way —

The missus will be happy to hear that.

I'd hoped that particular interpretation of the phrase would be ignored. Should've known better. <insipid smiley face>

I am nothing if not predictable.

It's officially a mess.
Photos: Storm unleashes travel-disrupting snow, mudslides across Northern California

Most of the problems caused by the storms never make national news. There have been countless problems with local flooding. There is a well-traveled state highway here that has been closed since early January because of slides. To take an alternative route from the area where I live adds about thirty miles to what is normally a fifteen-mile trip.

One area here has been without electricity for about five days because the storm took down dozens of trees, which ripped out ten power poles. The number of trees that have come down locally, including the one that fell into my driveway, is amazing. The roots have been so weakened by the drought that they topple easily.

I've got a contractor repairing damage to my unfinished basement/crawlspace, but he has had to put off the major work because of the continuous seepage of water, which continues days after the rains let up. The ground over much of California is like a giant fucking sponge now.

Haven't had any significant rain for a while. The long-range forecast for March shows just some showers tonight and in the morning, then again on the fifteenth to nineteenth. That's very good news, as March is historically one our wetter months. Throughout the county, the rainfall so far this year has been just about twice the normal - non-drought - rainfall.

Got the contractor coming Monday morning to start repairs. It's been too cold to pour concrete until now. Fuck the rain - bring back the drought!