Was awakened shortly before 3am by a National Weather Service flash flood alert from my phone. For those who have never experienced it, the NWS cell phone alert basically makes your smart phone go completely apeshit and definitely gets your attention.

I drifted back to sleep but 15 minutes later I was again awakened but this time to the sound of crazy heavy rain pounding on the roof and bedroom window and very high winds. Glad the building next door had several of their palm trees removed over the summer. Those things were scary in high winds and they stood a good chance of landing on my apartment. Anyway, that all lasted at least 30 minutes or so then just went to a steady heavy rain. The water in the street had risen high enough that only about a 3-4 foot section of asphalt at the center was visible. The sidewalks, curbs, and driveways were submerged. I think the storm drains were just overwhelmed because the rain was coming down so fast.

The radar images were pretty interesting to watch. We got another wave which lasted longer but was not nearly as crazy heavy and intense that started about 5:30am. Kept hearing sirens from the trucks leaving the firehouse so I assume there were lots of problems on the roads. I decided I was not going out in it until things completely subsided. I was fortunate and did not lose power.

Our parking structure remained mostly dry and I'm happy about that. Driving down the road, there is just bunches of debris all over the place. Palm fronds and husks all over the roads and sidewalks. Those things are big, heavy (when wet), and have sharp edges so you try to avoid them. I also noticed a few tree limbs broken on some trees, but no trees down along my journey to the post office, bank, and office. The office parking lot is still littered with palm husks. It's sort of an obstacle course. No leaks at the office so that's good. We had a leak the last rain.

We had periods of sun and then sudden downpours during mid-morning, but now things are mostly sunny. Quite cool (by SoCal standards), but mostly sunny. Ominous clouds are hovering over the foothills and mountains and they are still forecasting more rain to come from the west along with thunderstorms later this evening.

I don't think southern OC saw the same conditions as we did in West LA. I watched the radar maps and it looked to me like the heavy stuff really hit LA and points north while just some good solid rains came down where Patty is.

 

^^Glad you two made out OK. It's amazing the difference a few miles make in the severity of weather.

 

Over in Sonoma County the Russian River overflowed, and Marin is having issues. Here in Napa we are just very wet. At our house, we typically get more rain, as we are at 1500 feet. This storm just ended this afternoon and gave us 6.5 inches. That's 16.1 inches since Thanksgiving! If we get 3 more inches, we will equal the entire rainfall last year. (7/1 - 6/30)

 

^^ That's a lot of rainfall! There were some mudslides in the foothills on the eastern side of Los Angeles, but thankfully none of that impacts me. But *this* sure got my attention on the news last night... a tornado in south Los Angeles. Oh my! That's pretty rare.

"All of the sudden I heard something rumbling, and one of my neighbors was here and she said, 'The trash can is flying, we're having a tornado,'" Marleen Benefield said. "I said, 'No, not in Cali, we don't do that!"

"I was out on the front porch, I got soaking wet," said Rose Beard, who was praying inside when a tornado forced a tree to topple onto her home. "I thought it was ironic, I just said 'Oh Lord, wash me,' and then boom! I just got drenched."

Full story and video footage of the twister:
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/lo...285680241.html

 

The system reached Flagstaff last night and today. First it rained last night and then we woke up to a couple of inches of snow on the ground this morning. It snowed today off and on, but the skies are clear again tonight

 

More rain coming starting Monday evening and running through Wednesday. This could get interesting in the recent burn areas and Camarillo Springs. The latter has already lost more than a dozen homes to rock/mud slides.

 

The Pineapple Express weather front that deluged parts of Cali has arrived at my house in the form of a wet snow. The weather people have forecast 1-3 inches on the grassy surfaces. It looks like a great internet surfing day or time spent re-cabling two of my bikes.

gary

 

We actually go to enjoy a reltively nice sunny day today. a little brisk but sunny.
almost forgot what it looked like.

 

You got the sunny day we had yesterday. Today was gray and dreary again.

Just checked the long range forecast for Saturday for Canton, and looks like there could be some light snow for the Cookie Party.

 

Just for the record Gene, a long term forecast in New England is maybe a day.
Anything longer that that is just speculation.