Hurray for the monsoon!!

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat drought watchers,

The eastern Pacific hurricane season has been unusually active with already two named storms.  In both cases, forecast models hinted that some of the remnants from these hurricanes might make it as far north as the San Francisco bay area.  The first opportunity didn't pan out.  However, this morning the remnants of hurricane Blanca became this blessing from heaven:

Here is the street with water running in the gutter:



Even raindrops to be seen in the puddles:

It isn't a lot of rain.  To this moment we've gotten 0.20" (5mm.)  However, it is still falling gently and is more than double the rainfall we got for all of May!  Two days ago the high was 98.2˚ F (36.8˚ C).  So for the native vegetation, this is truly a blessing!!

It is very unusual to have monsoonal flow reaching this far north, but last year we came close to getting rain several times during the summer.

Here's to hoping that monsoons will make a regular visits to northern California this summer! 

Cheers, Edouard 

[Bull Winkus]

Good luck with that, Edouard! Hope you get a light shower every day all summer.

[HantaYo]

Congratulations  Enjoy.  It will be interesting how the Monsoons pan out this summer.  Depending on where the high sets up and if it remains stationary we can either high and dry to blessed with water sodden skies.  So far in June, Central Colorado mountains, I have received .39" which is a good start for June as it is my  second driest month with a average of .54".  The last 5 years of been pretty dismal with ranges from .07" to .43" for June.  The Monsoons start here around the first or second of July.  We will know shortly.

[LesCimes]

"Guaranteed" rain producer: Start a project outside on which rain will mess it up. After many days of no rain, we started a construction project. Guess what.. it started raining before the end of the day. Bummer.

[elagache]

Dear Herb, HantaYo, LesCimes, and WeatherCat drought watchers,

Thanks for the encouragement.  Unfortunately, a heat wave has come right behind the rain, so that water won't last long.  However, the longwave trough is expected to return next week.  That seems to be the key ingredient in getting monsoonal moisture up this way.  We'll have to wait for another eastern Pacific Hurricane to provide the moisture supply.

"Guaranteed" rain producer: Start a project outside on which rain will mess it up. After many days of no rain, we started a construction project. Guess what.. it started raining before the end of the day. Bummer.

Well, call me depraved but I actually gave a car a quick wash - during - the rain!  It didn't do any good though, the birds had dive bombed it by today.

On the other hand my trusty wagon is entered in the Orinda Classic Car show this year and she is guaranteed to be inside, so perhaps the show will once more be decidedly soggy!!



We'll see!!

Cheers, Edouard 

[LesCimes]

Wow! Look at those cars! They are incredible. Love old cars that are kept up and running. Hope you win a prize or something.

[elagache]

Dear LesCimes and WeatherCat all-weather travelers, . . .

Wow! Look at those cars! They are incredible. Love old cars that are kept up and running. Hope you win a prize or something.

That was a photo taken just outside of the service area which was used to display some of the cars during the 2013 Orinda Classic Car show.  The rains started about an hour after the show opened and as you can see the vast majority of the cars are displayed outside.  One fellow with a Buick convertible had a bit of a crisis.  He normally leaves his car in the garage in bad weather so the top never goes up.  This was the first time in years he had tried to bring the top up - thankfully it did work! 



Another guy checked his windshield wipers as the rains fell and the wiper fell apart in his hands!  I took this picture of a truck that clearly couldn't start after the show:



However, my trusty wagon didn't mind the rain at all.  She was snug as a bug in a rug - inside!!



She is going to be part of a exhibition of cars in Orinda through the decades again this year, so she'll be again indoors.  So, it can rain all it wants!!

Cheers, Edouard 

[Blicj11]

Is that you in the last shot or just some random dude with a colourful shirt and beard?

[elagache]

Dear Blick and WeatherCat "car guys" . . . .

Is that you in the last shot or just some random dude with a colourful shirt and beard?

Actually he is not a random dude, but a good friend of mine who has also been bitten by the classic car bug.  His collection includes 5 cars that are older than 1971.  One of which is actually his teenager daughter's car!  Apparently, the classic car bug also can be passed from parent to child! 

Cheers, Edouard