OMFG!!! It was just POURING RAIN in Los Angeles!!!

[cui bono]

I mean, really pouring, I'm not speaking native Los Angelese, I know what real rain is.

And the lightning and thunder!!! I could see the lighting just a few houses away and heard the thunder immediately. I've never been so close to lightning before. My poor kitties are terrified.

What strange mid-July weather... but the water is welcome! Hopefully it rained over on that fire between here and Las Vegas.

[fredamae]

1. And Snow Falls in HI

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/29573757/snow-falls-on-mauna-kea-summit-in-july

Crazy

[cui bono]

2. Wow!

That's crazy!

[DFW]

3. This must be the lightning storm I predicted in my book

Just 5 years late!

[niyad]

14. by the way, a most excellent book!!

[DFW]

38. Why, thank you!

It's always gratifying for an author to hear comments like that from his/her audience

[freshwest]

41. Too much suspense to put down!

[DFW]

47. I love it when readers say that

I was practically dancing around the room when I heard Thom Hartmann say it on his show!

[freshwest]

50. Honored to get a hard copy, glad you changed the name and offered on Amazon. Sticking with the book!

Having a lot of computer issues. And Hartmann, huh? I didn't know about that! Thanks so much, DFW.

[DFW]

52. A DUer turned me onto Thom Hartmann's comments on my book

It was his March 11th show, the first hour, starting about 17:30 going on for almost 2 minutes (!!!).

I can send you the audio podcast if it's no longer available from his web site. He literally said "I couldn't put it down!"

[ohheckyeah]

51. Is there a kindle version?

What's the name of your book? Congrats on writing and selling it.

[DFW]

53. There sure is!

I purposed underpriced the Kindle version ($1.99) so as to make it accessible to people who didn't have a lot to spend on a hard copy. It's called "The Time Cellar." If you go on Amazon's site, type it in the search, and it should pop right up.

[ohheckyeah]

55. Sounds interesting -

I just purchased it. I got the kindle edition. I had so many books I ran out of space so I only buy kindle books now.

Thanks for the info!

[DFW]

60. I hope you don't regret your decision

But feel free to let me have it with both barrels if you think it sucked, and I'll try to do better next time.

[ohheckyeah]

69. I seriously doubt

that it sucks. I'll be honest.

[hunter]

40. About a gentleman who is an nonlicensed seller of alcoholic beverages and unpermitted time traveler.

Your book is subversive, sir!

Which is probably why I enjoyed it.

(Just like Dr. Who, I'm a very dangerous fellow when I don't know what I'm doing...)

[DFW]

46. Well, to be fair

He DID consider informing the defense department, but though better of it for fear of losing his portal to his lady love to Pentagon bureaucracy. My brother does stuff for DARPA. I was NOT making that part up!

As for being subversive, well, keep it a secret if you would. I wouldn't want that aspect of me being made public.

[Control-Z]

4. There are 2 fires in full burn.

The rain is expected for 3 days. All LA beaches are closed because of the lightning which is also very dangerous to more fires. But high humidity and actual rain will help.

Rain in July is so strange.

[cui bono]

6. Beach closure may also be due to that death last year I think it was of someone who got hit

by lightning while in the water at the beach. Or something like that... maybe not a direct hit, but one guy died.

I'll have to turn on the local news today.

[Control-Z]

8. I was just watching the local news

and you're right. Lighting on the beach or in the water can be a deadly combination.

[cui bono]

22. Yeah, it was weird when that death happened. I was working close to that area and had driven

over that way to get some lunch that day. I was within a quarter mile from where it happened. Iirc the guy was only around 17 and was in shallow water.

[JI7]

61. him and his friends had already left but he decided to go back for one quick feel of the ocean

and that's exactly when it struck . just a few moments difference and he would have been ok.

[TexasBushwhacker]

9. Electricity conducts really well in saltwater n/t

[zappaman]

31. Yeah it was nearby to me.

I was in the front yard with the dog and it was like a sudden explosion.
Dog could not run fast enough into the house.
The strike happened about 20 yds off the beach.
Killed a guy who was in the water.
Truly a bolt from the blue.

Here's a good article.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/07/29/i-was-stricken-by-the-freak-lightning-storm-at-venice-beach/

[OnlinePoker]

36. Average July rain in LA...0.04"

I guess some years are above average.

http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/los-angeles/california/united-states/usca1339

[eridani]

75. Lived in Riverside from 1973-1980 and never, ever saw rain in July

Most welcome in the middle of a drought, though.

[Control-Z]

78. I've been here almost my entire life.

It sprinkled once in July. I was shocked. That was the year before last, iirc.

[Evergreen Emerald]

5. Hey! We want our weather back in Washington State

It has been too damn hot here lately.

[eridani]

79. No kidding! I doorbelled a firefighter today, and he immediately asked me--

--when was the last time I had any water. Up here, you tend to forget those precautions.

[Gman]

7. It looks almost monsoonal on the satellite

and radar imagery. Similar to what NM and AZ get in the summer. It does look to have originated off of TS Dolores in Mexico and moved north.

I think it will be a very wet fall and winter for CA with the strong El Niño in place. It's expected to last into spring next year.

[Nictuku]

10. Lets get those reservoirs filled up!!

[daleanime]

12. Or at less a good start...

[tblue]

11. Not a cloud in the sky in the Bay Area

We ache for rain. Glad you got some, LA!

[cui bono]

23. Thanks!

[Auggie]

44. We might get some in a day or two ... remnants of a hurricane

[The Animator]

13. My wife and I are in Burbank, I assumed thunder was construction on the 5...

At least at first, but opening the window and smelling the familiar change in the air before a rain I got excited.

I was born and raised in Central Florida, so it kind of felt like home.

[niyad]

15. may you get all the rain you need, with no flooding.

[SoapBox]

16. It rained...some...

And then stopped.

South Bay.

[C Moon]

17. It hit us near San Pedro 10 minutes before 7am.

Lots of thunder and pouring, pouring rain.
I don't recall rain in July, ever. It was cool!
Now the humidity is going to be a tad high, though.

[itsrobert]

18. Big cell off San Diego County coast

It's raining right now, but a bigger cell is headed this way. Get ready San Diego county.

[hifiguy]

19. I was in LA about 25 years ago in the spring

and got caught in what cowpoke types call a "gully-washer" IIRC. I was on the Santa Monica freeway at the time and the traffic slowed to about 5mph. Holy shit, that was big-time Minnesota thunderstorm sheets of rain.

[Snobblevitch]

33. We had one those thunderstorms last night in Minnesota.

My dad refers to these storms as raining "pitchforks and hammer handles". Yeah, he is the cowpoke type. (2.62 inches, power out for five hours)

[hifiguy]

62. I still live in Minneapolis, close to downtown

and the donner and blitzen were going great guns last night.

[Snobblevitch]

71. I knew someone who lived in LA for ten years.

She was back in Minnesota visiting me and we had a thunderstorm. She loved it and said it was one of the things she missed while living in LA.

Another time I was at a Del Taco in Phoenix one afternoon in February when a big rainstorm dropped a couple inches of rain. It was the first significant rain in over a year. One of the employees, a 20 something girl from Colorado, went outside in the deluge and ran around the building several times. Her exuberance was quite entertaining. That was my first afternoon there. It rained again the next day. I was there because my mother was hospitalized. I told the nurse that Phoenix was like Seattle because it rained everyday.

[SunSeeker]

20. It feels like Florida here!

It's uncomfortably humid, but no rain yet at the beach. I can feel it coming though.

[Le Taz Hot]

21. Nothing in Central California.

Enjoy, Angelinos!

[cui bono]

24. I might go take a walk in it when it returns!

And maybe, if the neighbors are lucky, I'll sing too!

[Hepburn]

25. I live in the South Bar area of L.A. County...and, wow, what weird weather!

Thunder, lightening...the last time this was my usual summer weather pattern was when I was a kid growing up in northeast Ohio.

[Liberal_in_LA]

73. the thunder was so loud. yikes

[MiniMe]

26. Unfortunately, when it pours like that, not enough soaks into the ground

Most of it runs off.

[cui bono]

28. Yep. I did check the radar map and it looked like it's going over the area of the big fire

between L.A. and Las Vegas, so hopefully it helps the firefighters get that under control.

[MiniMe]

48. That is a good thing

One of the few times a heavy downpour like that is welcome.

[RandySF]

27. I heard it's the remnants of a tropical storm.

[Stellar]

29. +100 Singing in the rain!!!

[Hekate]

30. Fantastic. Please send some up the coast to Santa Barbara!

Actually, there is a chance we'll get some tonight and tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Bliss!

[Fla Dem]

32. Can see on radar the rain storm moving off to the NE, but looks like you may

have another bit of rain soon soon.



Screen shot from 2:30 EDT

[SCVDem]

34. Off to a pool party

In Northridge .

But it's a humid heat.

The sun is out and it's time to party!

[SHRED]

35. Raining in Encinitas!

[C Moon]

37. I was just looking at a webcam in San Diego, and it appears there's a steady rain going on there.

Hotel Del Coronado:
http://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/hotel-del-coronado

I hope it continues its way up the coast and gives us all a good soak.

[Glassunion]

39. Thanks Obama!

[freshwest]

42. Plus one

[NightWatcher]

43. That could mean only one thing, watch out for mudslides

[forest444]

45. Thank goodness.

Does this mean someone finally put cloud seeding technology to good use? (as opposed to just using it to create perfectly-timed rainfall for a Georgia tea bagger governor's pray-in?).

[winstars]

49. Nothing in the SouthBay, got a few drops at the dog park about 9:00am...

[denbot]

70. Driving to my buddies house in Westchester and saw a lightning strike 300 yards in front of me

That was just before 9am. We were going to surf at El Porto (N. Manhattan Beach), and we were sitting in my van thinking to go anyway and the sky opened up, killing that plan.

It's rained here in Manhattan on and off till around 3pm, when it started raining steadily with no let up.

[nadinbrzezinski]

54. We left Pride in San Diego

after the third cell came though, we were soaked, and chiefly lightning was getting close. Yup, I took time to watch the radar returns every so often and kept an eye on my weather app.

I was glad I took the rain sleeves for the camera gear, down side, I was shooting with a fixed length. You cannot adjust the focal length with that.

It is a strange thing for Pride in San Diego. Scanner is running. We have a flash flood watch, and at the speed this is coming down I will not be too shocked to get a warning soon.

Soaked clothes are in the drier. We literally came home dripping.

[Omaha Steve]

56. Our friend in Chattsworth got rain for 90 seconds

K&R!

[Warren DeMontague]

57. ....it never rains in southern california!

Seems I've often heard that kind of talk, before.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

58. I live just south of L.A. and almost didn't believe you

until it rolled through here about 15 minutes ago. It just stopped but it was a pretty good few minutes of rain we badly need. My dish network went down and just came back on (it's always going down, especially when a plane goes by overhead on its way to the Long Beach airport).

[malaise]

59. Enjoy

You need it - thank Delores

[IcyPeas]

63. BOOM - thunder again this afternoon

here in the Valley. Pouring right now too and very dark. I Love it.

[cui bono]

64. Been having a nice light drizzle for a while and now we have some nice rain!!!

This is good!!!!!!!!

[Scootaloo]

65. send some north, will ya?

I'm seeing spruce trees turn brown here on Puget Sound. it's fucking weird.

[SunSeeker]

66. At 2 pm the lifeguards cleared the beaches due to lightening!

It's been raining steadily for the last three hours in Orange County, with no sign of let up.

My garden is in bliss.

[shanti]

67. You still have a garden?

mine is a memory now (sacramento). the only thing left is my tomatoes and they're in pots.

[SunSeeker]

68. I have a lot of creeping fig and giant bird of paradise.

They are surprisingly drought tolerant yet very green and tropical looking. But they do need water at some point!

[Liberal_in_LA]

72. yeah. I got caught in it. soaked! it was crazy rain

[Liberal_in_LA]

74. it is pouring in svc again

[romanic]

76. You guys needed it badly!

Here in MI we just had our first day of 90+ degrees with unbearable heat; that was after random pop up of storms and chilly nights in the low 60s/upper to mid 50s. Maybe that mini Ice Age will come sooner than later. :/

[DesertFlower]

77. that's great. nt

[MADem]

80. At least you are not Puerto Rico--it is SERIOUS there.....

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/22/drought_in_puerto_rico_it_s_much_worse_than_california.html

Be Thankful, California. At Least You’re Not Puerto Rico.

In California, reservoir levels are plummeting. The state’s precious mountain snowpack is already gone. On Thursday, a huge wildfire in the San Bernadino National Forest grew in size by 500 percent in just four hours. This weekend, a fire near Lake Tahoe exploded to seven times the size of New York City’s Central Park in little more than half a day. Both were visible from space Sunday night. Temperatures are soaring, locking in drought for months if not years to come. “The situation is grim for everyone and everything,” said Charlton H. Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

At least it’s not Puerto Rico.

Last week, the Puerto Rican government ramped up drinking water rationing for 200,000 users in the San Juan area, permitting households to draw water only every third day. Rainfall deficits have been building up since 2013, drying up rivers and streams at a record-breaking pace. It’s become one of the worst droughts in the island’s history.

But the situation in Puerto Rico is much more complex than just a lack of rain. Last month, Gov. Alejandro Padilla issued a state of emergency over the drought, which he blamed partly on the island’s struggling economy and the low priority given to water storage by previous governors. Padilla has appealed to Congress for the ability to declare bankruptcy and at least partially eliminate a whopping $73 billion in debt. Water rationing will only worsen the fragile economy, currently mired in an eight-year recession.

John Morales, a Miami-based meteorologist who provides weather forecasting services for the Caribbean, said Puerto Rico’s government could actually be underestimating the seriousness of the problem. The island’s dwindling reservoirs are so silted up from bygone years of intense tropical downpours they’re not able to store as much water as the government thinks they can.....

[loudsue]

83. The United States whipping boy is Puerto Rico.

Tragedy.

[MADem]

84. They need rain. LOTS of it. You can go to Ponce and get water, but in/around

San Juan they turn the water on only every three days.

[loudsue]

86. I love Puerto Rico, and I am so sorry people there are having so much trouble.

IMHO Puerto Rico is a paradise in many places.

[TeamPooka]

81. The thunder scared my dog a lot. nt

[4_TN_TITANS]

82. Tornados twice so far in July - midTN.

I've lived her for 41 years, sure we get them in Spring, and now November, but never July.
Also, armadillos dead on the highways are a common sight now, I've never seen a live one. They are moving here from the southwest as it becomes too hot for them.

If you aren't noticing climate change all around you
1. You haven't lived in your area very long
2. You are mostly indoors and don't keep up with the weather
3. You are Republican.

[Phentex]

85. Next time we get snow in the south...

I'm going to remind you all of why it is something significant.

[ellisonz]

87. And it's gone...

[cui bono]

88. And we're left with Florida style humidity. Blech.

People make fun of the "but it's a dry heat" line but it really makes a whole helluvalot of difference!

*drip* *drip*

[zappaman]

89. Downpour just started!

Awesome!

[Liberal_in_LA]

90. rain starting up again!

[cui bono]

91. Love it! Got the deck doors open and any windows safe to leave open while it rains outside.

Still could do without so much humidity though.

Should really help to finally put out those fires!!!

[Liberal_in_LA]

93. yeah, wish it wasn't so warm

[yuiyoshida]

92. Cui Bono, I am so glad you are getting water...

It hasn't rained for a while in Northern Cal. We really need water here as well..

[cui bono]

95. I hope you get some unusual rain as well!

[cherokeeprogressive]

94. Washed a bridge out on Interstate 10 about 50 miles west of Blythe.

A true to life gullywasher.