Lucky you ! it's tipping it down here too and I've just finished planting some new roses... so that's all good.. I have some more coming in the next day or two.... and that will be it...... won't it....? it'll have to be...

Can't wait till it arrives here tomorrow! The snows up north are already beginning to give relief to our LOONG drought .

The media hyped this storm so much here that it is a relief that it is just what I would call a normal strong winter storm - from before the drought. Steady hard rain - we will probably get over 4 inches in 24 hours. No high winds here, and practically no flooding except a couple of places on the 101 Freeway that always flood in a big storm at high tide.

The school districts panicked - we have not had a normal winter in 4 years, so I guess they forgot - and here and in SF they cancelled all schools for today and tomorrow - ridiculous. Hopefully this will keep happening periodically, and they will get used to it.

We are driving over the GG Bridge tonight to go into the City for dinner and a show - I called the restaurant and the theater, and they are both open and good to go. I LOVE rainy winters!

Jackie

Some areas get hit harder than others. I only need to worry about getting my gutters cleaned. There hasn't been anything like the El Ninos from quite a while back. One time I had to dig a trench through my back yard in my bath robe at 3am to keep from flooding. I've invested in drainage systems over the years, so I can deal with something big. I thought it was a good time to get a haircut without a wait.

deersteve, I hope you're towel-drying the deer regularly during the rain. It's utterly miserable standing around in a downpour and I'm sure you'll take pity on your furry friends.

Ingrid

I haven't seen much of the deer lately. They were here frequently during the mating season. Our son move in with us about a month ago and has a small terrier who is indoors. They might be aware of his presence.

Hopefully with all this rain the deer will be able to find food away from gardens and will leave your roses alone.

Ingrid

Well, I live in Northern Nevada, and after lots of warnings about this storm, it was a fizzle here. We had high winds, lots of black clouds and no rain, which we really need. No drought relief here.

We got 4.7 inches of rain in 36 hours during this last storm. We are now at 150% of "normal" for this date. Amazing. The news media carried on as if everyone was going to die, but actually there was way less wind and destruction than predicted. I did get out the tide table prior to driving in to San Francisco, as that freeway traditionally floods in a few places at high tide during strong storms. That worked. I think people just have to get back into "rainy winter mode" - has not been any need for 4 years, and folks forget, or just moved here and are astonished at what a normal winter is really like here.

4 of our 6 local reservoirs are spilling, and the total water storage is at 85% of capacity (was only 61% prior to this storm). Yay!

Jackie

We can go years here without having to water roses so its hard for me to imagine what you all go through in drought stricken areas of the country.

Hope you all get the rain you need!

Jim - I spent one summer in PA and I know what you mean. Rain every week, all summer.

Here it normally never rains for about 8 months of the year, so we have to get all of our rain during the 4 months of winter. So, we save the water and irrigate during the summer - no problem. The problem arises if it forgets to rain in the winter!

Jackie

Glad to hear you have not had too bad a time overall. Here in south GA we have the Hurricanes every now and then. We are far enough inland that we get lots of wind, a good steady rain generally, and a yard to clean up from broken branches and the like. Not too hard to deal with.

OK - this is my last comment on the rain. We have had 4 different storms come here in the last 5 days, which I love. We have 20 inches of rain so far since 7/1/2014, which is 200% of our "normal" YTD. So, it appears that I got my wish, and I will be quiet now in gratitude.

Jackie

Lol, proves the old adage, it never rains but what it pours! I know many places have gone from famine to deluge but I'm glad that there has at least been some drought relief for you. Let's hope it now goes to a nice happy medium for everyone!