Seven out of the last eight storms bypassed Fullerton without dropping any significant rain. Today all we got was a mist type rain which isn't enough to penetrate even an eighth of an inch into the soil. Wish I could get some of your rain, I have had to water my garden and fruit trees with a hose for the last two months, and that was just after the so called "rainy season". But thanks to some good rain in early February we did get 14 inches so far this rainy season, which is a little over an inch more than the normal 12.86 inches per year. My concrete patio is almost dry even though it is mist raining because it is evaporating as fast as it falls.

Flis, Yes, it was a little wildfire. The firefighters were down on Brown Springs Rd from roughly 1 pm until sometime around 6 pm. I got home a little after 6 pm. It was burning in heavy brush in sandhills and pastures---that sugar sand they have in the Thackerville area near the river that fire trucks often get stuck in. At one point we had 2 different fire trucks stuck in the sand. It got to the point that they couldn't go fight the fire because they they kept getting bogged down in sand, so we spent a lot of time waiting for the fire to come out to the road....which it really didn't do because the wind direction kept shifting. We were at such a low elevation there that radio and cell phone communications were difficult and, at times, impossible. It was a yucky afternoon. The thermometer on our VFD suburban showed 110 degrees and we were parked in the shade, but at home the Mix-Max thermometer only hit 99, and Burneyville was 96. I guess summer is here! Most of the volunteer firefighters were at work or otherwise not available, so they had to page out 7 fire departments to get enough personnel and trucks. It was a very trying fire. It wasn't big---just impossible to access. The intial assessment was 10 acres burning upon arrival of the first fire unit, but I don't know how much ultimately burned. Even the dozer had trouble climbing some of the sandhills to cut a firebreak. As I type this, one group of firefighters is back out there putting out a little area that flared up and started burning again. I am sorry to hear about your AC system. That is terrible. Every summer I hold my breath and hope ours will make it through one more summer. I was rushing around like a crazy woman after I got home trying to take care of all the animals, water some small plants, check on the garden, feed the wild birds, put water in the birdbath, etc., and had a rather unsettling encounter with a timber rattler in my garden. We sent him to the Happy Snake Hunting Ground, or wherever they go when they die. He was feisty and put up quite a fight, but letting him live another day wasn't going to work because if I knew that snake was in my garden, I wasn't going to step foot in it for the rest of the year. This is our family's ninth snake encounter of the year, with 8 of them being venomous snakes. Two cats were bitten, and both survived but it was touch-and-go for a while. Our old mama dog, Honey, was bitten by a venomous snake last night, but I think she is going to make it. She was miserable and in a lot of pain and had some swelling in her paw since then, but she seems to be in great spirits tonight---much more so than last night. So.....let's run thru the Love County checklist.....wildfire.....air conditioner death....snake encounters with bites....hot and dry with strong wind gusts and no rain. Green rapidly turning brown. Ridiculous June temperatures. Chiggers, skeeters, biting horseflies and red wasps. Yep, it's summertime, and it is just about all I can stand. I am starting to miss the winter weather. Dawn

OnAHolliday, I'm sure the weather forecasters love people like you! LOL They can get so dramatic in their presentations. I know what you mean, though. I used to find thunderstorms and major snowstorms exciting.....until I had to experience them alone, and be responsible for the house and pets all by myself.....and until the house down the road was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Plus in recent years the world has had a big increase in severe weather-related phenomena. I find it getting less exciting all the time. :-)

Lots of those little microclimates in the Bay Area. Inland where I am is a lot dryer. We haven't gotten as much as other places inland... but I love the rain we have gotten! It's the snow and ice that helps the drought the most. Here's a good article on the current state of the CA drought. Making headway, but not over. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theweathernetwork.com/us/amp/news/2017-pacific-storms-take-a-big-bite-out-californias-drought/78018?client=safari