It rained nonstop for 36 hours on Monday. Some five gallon buckets under the roof drip line were filled almost to the brim. It’s supposed to be a dryish winter for Sonoma, but I like this once a week rain schedule. Keeps everything green and allows me to work with the clay soil.

Yes, we here in the North SF Bay Area had approx 3 inches of rain in the past week. This still leaves us about 50% of "normal to date" numbers, but it is very welcome. They are predicting more rain in the future. It is all a matter of whether a high pressure ridge stalls off of the Calif. coast, in which case all of the storms go North to the NW part of the country, or stays somewhere else, in which case we will get all of our normal rain. This latest several days of rain is a good sign.

Jackie

We got just under 2 inches -- which made the garden happier.

By contrast, the Santa Barbara area got something like a half-inch in 5 minutes. So much rain, and no plants to hold the burned soil. Poor Montecito.

What struck me is how many people in the Montecito area of Santa Barbara were under "mandatory evacuation" orders, and still (90% of them, accd to the news) refused to leave. Very unfortunately, some of them are dead or injured now. "evacuation exhaustion" (because of the weeks long fire), and complacency have been blamed. Denial is part of the human condition, of course, and I keep telling myself, with the horrible fires here locally, and down there, and the 17 dead in this mudslide, to PAY ATTENTION if the authorities tell us to evacuate in the future - I hope I will remember. A family just North of here lost 2 children, and I think the parents are still in the hospital, because they woke up in the middle of the night and saw the fire raging down towards their house, and instead of all jumping in the car immediately, they got on the phone to tell their relatives what they were doing, collected stuff, etc. before trying, too late, to leave. We (humans) are just so wired to not think but KNOW that "it cannot happen to me" that it can cause tragedies. I need to work on re-wiring my brain about this.

Jackie

Lisa, you can't win for losing, but hopefully now that three bad things have happened you'll get a break. So sorry about all this. Having anything under water and no man in the house to "fix it" is a bummer.

I am thrilled about your rain Ingrid and Lisa and Jeri and all of you. Post rain pictures are welcome anytime.

We got a lot less rain here than the rest of SoCal, but I'll take what I can get.

Here, the sun is setting in the rain . . .

Here's the sunrise, the next morning . . .

Pretty pictures, Jeri! It’s still nice and wet here, in spite of the temps climbing. I’m over my flu but weak as a newborn kitten. All I can say is that I’m really thankful that my concerned family has been warned to stay away for awhile longer. Although I’m an admitted “clutterbug”, this is beyond that. Between my hip and the flu, if I drop something I’ve left it there. That in itself is getting to me. I’m definitely on the mend though, so I keep telling myself to just rest and take care of it later. I’m SO thankful that I don’t have to water right now! Lisa

Lisa, I can't help but wish that someone were there to help you, but understand your concern about not wanting to pass the virus on. The weakness that comes afterwards is almost as bad as the disease. You must have really hurt that hip badly. I hope you can overcome all this soon.

Being less than 10 miles from Montecito, I would like to share:

The area had been carved up in to Mandatory and Voluntary evacuations for the better part of a month for the fire. I was in a voluntary zone and did pack my photos and drive around with them for a week. I had friends who where out of their homes or knew if they left to buy groceries, they might not get back in. We cancelled parties, Christmas shopping and a variety of things. This was a hard Christmas season. We were all pretty tired of being evacuated or on warnings

The rain evacuations were posted with a Monday at noon deadline. Homes above hwy 192 where Mandatory and those below voluntary. I would guess most of those people in the voluntary zones followed the guidelines of packing your car, facing it out and being prepared to leave at a moments notice.

When I went to bed, I checked the forecast and there was no hour with over .50" of rain. The rain was more a fine mist at midnight. Would you have left? At 2:32am the phone weather alert blared with the alarm. At 3:52 a second alarm sounded and then one again right after 4am. They received 1/2" in 5 minutes.

The mud flows broke the Highline water supply pipes from the lakes in several places. It broke gas lines, knocked out power, cable etc. Most of the people that lost their lives were in the voluntary zone below hwy 192. I would guess they all had their cars packed and ready, they just did not anticipate what was about to happen.

In hindsight, they should have changed their evacuation zones to reflect low spots and where water might go as mandatory. But if you would have told me the problem in the middle of the night at the Montecito Inn was mud in the lobby, I would have wondered why it was there and not in the creek beds. I don't think anyone thought that light rain would have torn the mainlines from the lakes. This was a horrible result of 5 minutes of heavy rain.

What a shocking story, Kippy. It's amazing how easily a situation can turn deadly due to unforeseen circumstances and perhaps human error. It's a sobering thought that what happened in California is probably just the beginning of that and worse to come in the future. The rampant building that is still going on in California, with no regard to where homes are situated, is at least partly to blame for these events. The more the population multiplies the more human tragedies will occur.

I hope you are safe and well Kippy.! So much devastation in such a beautiful place. :(

Meanwhile, I am so happy y'all are getting some much needed rain in other parts of the state.

Kippy - they say that, whether evacuation zone was mandatory or voluntary, only 5-10% of the people actually evacuated that Monday. This is totally understandable as you describe the situation - I think they call it "evacuation exhaustion". Also of course not a situation anyone was used to happening - a "perfect storm" of a very dry Fall, a very very late, enormous, not-really-out-yet fire and then a deluge. Here the news said that people were warned of "flash floods", perhaps they should have added "landslides and mudflows"? Humans naturally discount danger to themselves, especially in places where they have been living safely for years! I think it is a survival trait we probably share with most mammals - just keep on keeping on, and it will be OK.

California does not have a forgiving climate - it is wonderful 99% of the time, which lulls people into feeling comfortable. The the other 1% is very dangerous, obviously. I agree that too many houses are constructed on steep hills, without the proper geophysical studies. Perhaps the requirements will be improved because of this tragedy.

Jackie

I am so happy that y'all got some Rain!

But it deeply saddened me and I am fighting tears for the loss of life, especially the children. I wish everything could go perfect in cases like this, that everything was thought of, but sadly something will always be forgotten. Prayers for Cali!