Thursday, January 21, 2010

California rains FTW

You win, California. Your aquatic display of fury from the heavens over the past 48 hours is by far the craziest, most absurd and impressive rain I have ever experienced. What's that? The worst has supposedly not arrived yet? BAD. ASS.

Sure, many people in Southern California are saying that right now but I'm different. Remember: for 25 years of my life I lived in either the Midwest (Minnesota and Kansas) or up in Seattle, neither a stranger to wet weather. This, folks, would make either locale blush.


This is in Huntington Harbor, just a couple miles from here. Yeah, this is California.

Sheets of rain pounded the area for hours, a tornado flipped over a car and damaged several buildings in Seal Beach / Sunset yesterday, Delaware Street in front of our place turned into the Delaware river (didn't Washington or some guy cross that?) with the raging water breaching the curbs that consider a lot of water to be a couple dudes washing their trucks on a Saturday afternoon. There was rampant flooding on giant streets you'd never imagine would flood and the building next door under major rennovation couldn't hire enough day labor to bail water from the newly poured concrete patios.

Hey Bro, I borrowed your car but I don't remember parking it so badly...that must be some good weed

All in all, it was killer. Maybe the best part is that I sat here all day, indoors sipping pot after pot of Gyokuro tea; I did not venture outside other than the occasional peek out the front door to make sure the potted plants weren't potted buoys.


 San Clemente Pier. That right looks killer...literally.

I did have to venture out yesterday to the office to pick up a package and was reminded what horrible drivers Californians are when it's not 72 and sunny. In heavy wind and rain I'm not sure that Beach Blvd. (the giant, arterial road here in HB) got above 30mph (normally people are pushing 55-60) and I didn't know that the windshield wipers on some of these cars could move that fast nor that people could press their face that close to the windshield and actually drive.

This photo pretty much exemplifies the typical SoCal driver. Nothing like taking a compact car through 3-feet of water on an off-ramp.

In any event, I loved the last 48 hours and look forward to more. If Southern California exhibited more crazy weather like this and we experienced a few days of panic and concern because it's not 72 and sunny I think it would do everyone good; I know I'd love it. Here's hoping this El Nino year delivers even more craziness...


 This, people of California, is a tornado

1 comment:

Lauren said...

Love this, hilarious.