Rain and Mali Mish seem to go together. On our very first trip in her to Lake Isabella, it rained on us for the first 2 nights we ever spent in her. Now as we are about to embark on our first cross country trip, we are having the heaviest rain we have seen in years.
Our maiden voyage in Mali Mish with looming clouds and rain (November 1, 2008)
We have been checking lists and packing bins now for the last several days. It seems never ending at times but we are starting to feel like we are ready. At least as ready as we will ever be. All the while we are seeing the rain and wind just keeps piling on. So much so I can’t even get into the car without first crossing a river that has formed by the sidewalk.
Before all of you starting thinking, “Is this dude in California REALLY complaining about the weather there?” I’d like to point out that this is the heaviest rain we’ve had since 2005 when the mud slide in La Conchita (Just minutes from us) destroyed over 30 houses and killed 10 people almost exactly 5 years ago to the date.
Aftermath of the 2005 La Conchita mud slide.
These El Nino storms are not as severe as the heavy rains we got in 2005 but we do have some strange weather patterns going on all around us. Rare tornados/waterspouts touched down to the south of us flipping over cars and sending boats 30 feet up in the air in the greater LA area. A funnel cloud was caught on video in Goleta which is a half hour north of us in a suburb just outside of Santa Barbara. Needless to say, we were a little concerned about a late night drive up north where winds have exceeded 60 miles per hour.
KEYT News footage of local tornados
For now, we are staying put for the next couple of days. The weather is suppose to ease up by Saturday and we hope to be able to salvage what we can out of a trip to northern California. We actually really need this rain as all of our water supplies in the state are, and have been for years, well below the historical average.
over and out,
dan
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