California Rains
[Guest post by DRJ]
The Massachusetts’ election and the Haitian earthquake have dominated the news and blogs, but there are other stories including one that affects many California readers — Los Angeles rain:
“Street flooding was reported across the region, including in Burbank, the Bixby Knolls section of Long Beach, areas south of Long Beach Airport, as well as Sunland and San Pedro.
The storm ripped part of the roof off an industrial building in Paramount and flooded the southbound 710 Freeway around Alondra Boulevard. Flooding was also reported on the 710 near Willow Street in Long Beach. [Updated at 6:35 p.m.: The California Highway Patrol said the 405 Freeway south is flooded in Long Beach at Spring Street and that traffic was being diverted.]
Other freeways reported less serious flooding, producing a grim evening commute.”
Any stories to share?
— DRJ
It was pouring and somewhat flooded on Interstate 680 through the East Bay this morning. I slowed down to 45 MPH. The rain has subsided but it’s pretty windy. Supposed to rain the rest of the week.
aunursa (a1573d) — 1/20/2010 @ 7:48 pmI went up to my boat to check it today as the worst storm is forecast for tomorrow. The dock lines were fine. We have a fabric and metal frame structure in back of the house that is a sort of summer house. Yesterday, in the strong wind (90 mph in some places) it walked across the back patio. I finally tied a cement block to the frame and it has behaved itself today. No floods but I am glad I don’t live in a slide area.
MIke K (2cf494) — 1/20/2010 @ 7:53 pmAt my paper’s Escondido office, people were staring out the window in amazement at the pouring, pounding rain. When Southern California has weather, even reporters are bewildered.
And soggy.
To my relief, traffic wasn’t that bad when I drove home. Perhaps all the really bad drivers had had their accidents by then.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641) — 1/20/2010 @ 7:53 pmit’s wet outside, and the birds are hungry, especially the hummingbirds.
Captian Obvious (fb8750) — 1/20/2010 @ 8:01 pmWasn’t too bad in my part of the SFV.
I got pretty lucky with the timing of the rain bands.
TTC (ba61d5) — 1/20/2010 @ 8:01 pmBradley, the rule is to stay home for the first or second rain. The water lifts the oil out of the pavement and it is slippery. By now, the rain has washed the oil away and the freeways are not as slick.
MIke K (2cf494) — 1/20/2010 @ 8:02 pmI commute to and from work through a canyon. It was pretty flooded – so much so that it really felt like I actually floated over a couple of low spots. The rain was fierce so the going was slow.
Halfway through the canyon, the rain paused and the weirdest thing happened: I gingerly rounded a curve, and there ahead of me were three coyotes briskly walking in unison in the middle of my lane. The rain started up again but didn’t slow them down at all. So there I was, cautiously following three coyotes.
I was barely moving and the cars in the opposite direction were also close to a standstill in fear that the coyotes would dart in either direction to get to the hills. They seemed totally unaware of the minor havoc they were wreaking.
Anyway, stuck in the road, rain pouring again, and three coyotes holding up the show, I started honking as did others, trying to scare them off. After several minutes of this, they finally took off in a westerly direction, briskly walking at first and then hitting the field below the hill, began to book it up into the chaparral. Never seen anything like it. I was then able to continue floating my way home.
Dana (1e5ad4) — 1/20/2010 @ 8:14 pmaccording to my low tech rain gauge, a straight wall bucket out in the open with nothing to drip into it, we’ve had 5.75 inches of rain in my part of the SFV so far…..
SigAlert.com is the place to go for traffic updates.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/20/2010 @ 8:23 pmIn San Diego County rain news…
At times it was coming down at the rate of 1 inch a hour. In one location 2 inches. Usual flooding, usual stalled cars, usual location shots with a drenched reporter holding a wind blown umbrella.
The big news this time around was a story on six emergency pumps being established in the community of Mission Beach. Not just for the rain, but for the high surf as well.
At last report the 4th storm is supposed to be even worse. Which means a lot of wet and windy and cold heading east over the next week. Depending on what the Jet Stream does this could mean winter weather for much of the eastern U.S. Be ready to stock up on rock salt or sandbags as the situation warrants.
Alan Kellogg (0981ab) — 1/20/2010 @ 8:35 pmHad a pretty bad storm here in AZ last night. There’s an even bigger one coming tonight which could drop 5 inches on our little town. That’s almost our average annual rainfall. It will also wreak a small amount of havoc at the car auctions in town, Barret-Jackson et al.
Gazzer (c213bd) — 1/20/2010 @ 8:47 pmAll the main roads I take in the Valley are flooded in the right lane. Or they were when I as driving around, today. The drains are clogged or too far apart, causing sidewalks to disappear under water and cars to rooster tail as they drive along. I drove through a deep puddle without realizing how deep it was and thought I was going to stall.
I’m kinda glad I’m not working if only for the fact I don’t have to commute in the downpour and deal with the doubly bad drivers.
wherestherum (d413fd) — 1/20/2010 @ 8:56 pmMassive damage due to mud slides, due to the summer fires. I blame Boosh, no that’s not it, I blame the stupid democrat enviro whacko’s who won’t allow fire lines to be cut through worthless brush. They would rather see your home burn or slide away than see a piece of one year old useless brush removed. Get rid of democrats and 90% of Ca’s peoblems will go with them.
Scrapiron (996c34) — 1/20/2010 @ 9:16 pmFirefighter 16
Just like the stupid yankee democrats moving south because they can no longer afford to live in their home state. A month after they arrive they’re in the city council meeting demanding the same policies be passed that ran them out of their home state. You truly can’t fix stupid.
Scrapiron (996c34) — 1/20/2010 @ 9:19 pmDana,
Those three coyotes could have been tribal totems, guiding you through the rain.
Glad your commute (float?) ended safely.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641) — 1/20/2010 @ 9:21 pmNo disrespect intended, but from Houston: Color me unimpressed.
Beldar (15385b) — 1/20/2010 @ 9:30 pmToday’s weather made me think of one major laughable aspect of AGW fanatics. That being their marginalization of the impact of the sun in shaping climate. After all, the large storms hitting southern California can be traced to the sun and the fact that less of its energy is falling on earth’s northern hemisphere due to the planet’s tilt.
Also laughable are the people of liberal persuasion, who fall for the nonsense of AGW, who I observed this afternoon getting all uncomfortable and unhappy — perhaps I can also say hot and bothered — because of the cold and rain. Another example of limousine liberalism, or the phoniness and cluelessness of those on the left regardless of their income level.
Mark (411533) — 1/20/2010 @ 9:55 pmRain broke in the South Bay by 6:30, so I actually made it to outdoor lap swimming at 7:30. The clouds even started to dissipate and I saw the moon and the stars. Apparently the rain is coming back tomorrow in full force.
JVW (48cbba) — 1/20/2010 @ 10:19 pmWhere’s the rain?
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/20/2010 @ 11:09 pmWhere’s the next batch?
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/20/2010 @ 11:09 pmand, unsurprisingly, someone decided to write an e-mail hoax about this event:
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/20/2010 @ 11:12 pmMeanwhile, in Burbank $40 million dollars rained down on Conan’s head.
Icy Texan (01c224) — 1/21/2010 @ 12:34 am39,999,999.75 than he is worth, IMHO.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 1/21/2010 @ 1:09 amAlt. headline: “Leno Rains on Conan’s Parade”
Icy Texan (01c224) — 1/21/2010 @ 1:17 amEven on tiptoes I couldn’t help but wade through ankle-deep water yesterday to get to the car, which I was certain would stall when I pulled out of the parking structure. (It didn’t.). Skidded on the bridge from Long Beach to Pedro but luckily I was going slow and there was no truck immediately there to hit.
This sucks.
Patterico (c218bd) — 1/21/2010 @ 6:01 amOooh, I hate that bridge, Patrick, in the rain above the roiling bay.
I didn’t have to work so I stayed home and watched the rain and read books and made my favorite winter dinner: pot roast, garlic toast, and red wine.
Patricia (b05e7f) — 1/21/2010 @ 8:34 amI like Mulligatawny soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.
ropelight (1d3970) — 1/21/2010 @ 10:11 amsounds good, ropelight.
Patricia (b05e7f) — 1/21/2010 @ 1:03 pmI didn’t have to work so I stayed home and watched the rain and read books and made my favorite winter dinner: pot roast, garlic toast, and red wine.
Patricia, that sounds like a perfect day & meal!
Commenters who live with *real* seasonal weather have to realize that here in So Cal, if we have excessive rainfall, we are immediately under STORM WATCH! It’s epic, we react like No One Else Has Ever Experienced This! The local news eats it up, create amazing graphics and come up with catchy descriptive phrases uttered in urgent tones because, This is Real Weather. Buckle up! But we realize we tend to be weather wusses due to our limited experience (heavy rain or heavy heat). So bear with us and we promise to refrain from squealing when we step in a big, deep puddle.
Dana (1e5ad4) — 1/21/2010 @ 7:24 pmI wrote a storm-related story for Friday’s paper about how cold, drenched rodents may be looking to camp out in SoCal homes. I feel so TV.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (9eb641) — 1/21/2010 @ 7:34 pmI got stuck on Chair 22 at Mammoth.
I’ll get over it….
SteveG (d45bb7) — 1/21/2010 @ 7:37 pm#28- Yeah. When a family member moved West and had to take a CA DMV road test (in a summer month,) the first thing the DMV tester asked her was, “Do you know where the switch is to your windshield wipers?” Naturally, the Easterner instantly knew. At the end of the test, curiosity prevailed and she asked why the obviously simple question on the wiper switch. The reply was, “Well, you’d be surprised how many people who’ve lived in California all their lives don’t know where it is on their dashboards or have forgotten since they’ve seldom had to use their wipers.”
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 1/21/2010 @ 7:55 pm