We got an unexpected rainstorm yesterday - for five minutes. My husband said the rain came down hard while it lasted but it wasn't loud enough to wake me (or the cat) and, by the time I got up, it was over.
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| Two one-hundredths of an inch admittedly isn't much but it's on par with what we've had with many of our so-called rainstorms this year. For reference, the rain year total of 4.10 inches was calculated from October 1, 2020. The historical average for the Los Angeles area is just under 15 inches, with the majority of that falling between November and April. |
The drought has been a bigger worry for me than the heat. Coastal California has generally been spared the extreme heat that has plagued the inland areas and, according to at least one source, that trend is forecast to continue. We weren't expecting any rain from the monsoonal conditions to the east either so I was unreasonably pleased to see we logged two one-hundredths of an inch. I don't have a way of accurately measuring how much of that rain we collected off our house and garage roofs; however, I estimate that my smallest (50-gallon) barrel went from empty to one-quarter full.
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| I filled this 2-gallon watering can four times to water potted plants and I'd guess I can get two more refills before the barrel is empty again. Presumably, my other two tanks, both larger, collected similar amounts. |
The rain was sufficient to clean the dust off leaves and freshen the air. Sometimes that's enough to get excited about, although I admit I remained vaguely hopeful we'd get another shower before the day was over. We didn't. Still, I'm counting us lucky that our morning marine layer has stuck with us into July.
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| View from the front door, the pavement almost dry again two hours after our very brief downpour |
Tomorrow is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. I'll have more colorful photos to share then. For more Wednesday Vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.
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