I'd planned another post for today but Mother Nature unexpectedly put on a major show this week and it warranted some attention. Our third rainstorm of the season moved in late Tuesday, slowly built up steam on Wednesday, and finally gave us a thorough soaking on Thursday before moving eastward. The rain was heavy at times and, for several hours yesterday, it looked as if we were cocooned in a cloud.
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| The effect was pretty in an eerie kind of way as neighboring houses simply disappeared |
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| The usually bustling Los Angeles harbor was invisible and also silent |
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| Even the birds were silent but then my failure to refill their feeders may have something to do with that |
The clouds gradually lifted late in the afternoon, once again revealing the Los Angeles harbor below us. As sunlight crept in, a rainbow appeared, arcing over the harbor, and I took my camera outside to capture it.
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| The rainbow created a complete 180 degree arc but I was unable to get a shot long enough to capture all of it |
While I was out and about, I noticed what at first looked like smoke wafting over the fence that separates my cutting garden from the back garden. Intense sunlight hitting the wet fence was causing water in the wood to evaporate in the form of steam. I tried to capture the effect with my camera but was only minimally successful.
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| That fuzzy blur above the top of the fence was stream |
As the sun began to dip, a second, fatter rainbow appeared.
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| You can read about what makes some rainbows look wider than others here if you're interested |
And, like the end of any good fireworks display, Mother Nature's performance ended with a stunning sunset.
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We got nearly 2 inches of rain over the course of the 3 days, with most of it arriving yesterday. Our seasonal total to date is 4 inches which already exceeds the paltry amount we got last year. (Our "rain years" are measured from October 1st through September 30th.) Unfortunately, the rain caused havoc in the areas recently impacted by fire here. Mudslides precipitated yet another round of evacuations and for a time snow closed the major highway artery between Southern and Northern California.
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| Highway 5 is open again but the mountains to the northeast of us were dusted in snow this morning |
Today's Los Angeles Times included an article speculating on what this storm, much stronger than originally anticipated, signifies about the balance of our rainy season. NOAA has been predicting a good chance of a moderate
El Niño this year. The Times referred to this week's storm as indicative of a "wanna-be
El Niño" and said that the season suggests a "battle between
El Niño and the blob," a persistent patch of warm water in the northeastern Pacific that in years past has prevented rainstorms from reaching Southern California, driving our drought. That sounds like the title of a horror movie, doesn't it? We'll hope this particular movie is a bust. For those of you to the east in the storm's path, I hope it treats you gently. Best wishes for a pleasant weekend.
All material © 2012-2018 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party
