Rain and cold!

So it turns out that there is actually weather in San Diego, if only occasionally. Winter has arrived, meaning that a little over a week ago, the heat came on for the first time (which means that it had not dropped below 65F in the apartment before then). It's very chilly tonight, predicted to get down into the 30s (maybe only 39, but still, colder than it's been), and yesterday a "winter storm" came through.

A severe winter storm, in San Diego, looks very different from what gets that label in other parts of the country. Yesterday's "winter storm" involved and inch and a half to two inches of rain, and several hours of gusty wind in the afternoon (~30mph). So it was legitimately a rainy, blustery day.

But the consequences? Over 400 traffic accidents, 42,000 people out of power, and general panic. Trees were falling all over, because the kinds of trees that are planted here (palms, eucalyptus, etc.) have shallow root systems, so getting the ground even a little mushy is enough to cause catastrophes.

It is pretty amazing how a little rain could cause so much trouble, when places like Eugene and Seattle have weather like this all the time, and it usually results in little more than people wearing raincoats. I'm a little bit at a loss...

The good news about the weather being a bit more "wintery" is that I did not feel stupid making a fire in my fireplace when Jeff was visiting last weekend. We had a lovely weekend of doing very little, that included making soup, baking apple crisp, and playing board games in front of the fireplace. I can't wait until next year when we'll be able to do that kind of stuff together all the time!