Flooding in California... Always Weather Somewhere.. Anniversary of 2002 Raleigh Ice Storm

This graphic headline pretty much says it all.

That's San Fran NOT Tampa.. yes Virginia that's a sink hole... 

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Downpour-causes-widespread-flooding-around-Bay-5932113.php

Normally when I see a sink hole I think it's Central Florida somewhere, but in this case it seems they happen in Northern California also.

The rain is not just confined to Northern California but is causing serious flooding in Southern California and what is called the "High Desert"

That's not South Beach... that's San Jose.

Remember that song about never raining in Southern California?

Well, when it rains it pours and I know I lived out there during an El Nino..

http://www.weather.com/news/news/california-rainfall-flooding-latest-news

Years back I lived in LA. The particular year I'm talking on was 1983 when an El Nino created a very warm moist period that caused rains so strong that my 4 year old woke us up and told us "Mommy it's raining in the bedroom" and pointed to the ceiling that was leaking just a few inches from our bed. Fast forward an hour or so later and it was pouring in our bedroom. Seems the landlord didn't realize the roof was bad as it hadn't rained like that in .... a long time. And, when they say that in LA they scrunch up their eyes and look towards the Hollywood sign and try to remember when it did rain that hard . . .

Eventually part of the ceiling collapsed and we moved into the very large dining room where a sleep away sofa opened up into a Queen size bed.  We moved the table... they fixed the ceiling that kept getting worse as the rain kept coming down. But, on that infamous day when it was raining in our bedroom on Poinsetta just north of Melrose Avenue we crawled out of bed, went to the front door and looked outside to see what rain in LA looked like and there was so much rain the water was flowing down the street from the Hollywood Hills. There was a strong current in the street there..  There was actually WATER in the Los Angeles River... 

We ended up moving around the corner to Fuller Avenue ;) while the landlord Rosemary tried to solve the ongoing roof problem. A shame, cause that was a really cute duplex... 

This pretty much sums it up for life in California when it rains. Stay inside, hunker down if you can and hope and pray your roof doesn't leak.

There's always weather going on somewhere, even if it rarely ever rains in Southern California or snows in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

Today is the anniversary of the 2002 Ice Storm that shut down Raleigh, NC for days... some people were without electric for weeks. Watch this old video from a press conference that shows you how dire the circumstances were and note they compared it to Hurricane Fran with Ice. Note how much it looks like a post hurricane damage press conference.

Yes, I have learned never to say out loud "Wow, I'd really like to see an Ice Storm" as people glare at me and tell me how they lost their _____ tree and had no power for almost 2 weeks and..... it really doesn't cut it to tell them "But, I heard they are really pretty..."  or you will hear about their pear trees and a whole list of things that went pop in the night..........along with their electric.

Obviously some people made the best of it..

They are beautiful, but they can be deadly.

As for tropical weather there is tropical weather in the Pacific. There is a possible winter storm in the wings for Christmas for the East Coast though what that means just yet is hard to say as it's too soon to tell. They are still trying to figure out how much rain we are going to be getting this coming Saturday.

Stay tuned for an update on how Christmas Weekend will look when the forecast becomes more certain.

I will say the other day we were walking into the house and my husband looked up at the pear trees and said "hope we don't get an ice storm, because those trees still have a lot of leaves on them.."  Note he rarely says anything like that so it made me go "hmnnnnn" as something about this year obviously makes him wonder. Good news...those pear trees are dropping their leaves so fast the lawn is littered in little yellow leaves......   hmnnnnn...........

Besos Bobbi