Sunny Southern California - Not!

This is craziness, this rain.  We have been getting close to 3 inches per day, yesterday and today (and forcast for tomorrow and Wednesday too).  Our normal rainfall for a year is about 11 inches so we have gotten half of our normal rainfall in two days.  We are not set up for this in Southern California.  Our soil doesn't know how to absorb large amounts of rain so it runs off and causes flooding.  I left work early so I wouldn't have to drive the mountain in the dark.  The freeways were flooded with bits of palm branches scattered here and there and rivers of water where the slow lane is supposed to be.  The road from the freeway to the mountain was under water in spots -- the run off from the mountain was making its way to Lake Elsinore and not taking the storm drain route.  The highway up the mountain wasn't too bad.  There were snow plows out patrolling to clear the rocks and mud.  But the fun really started when I turned down the road leading to our community.  The mountains in which we live are coastal.  To the east is the desert and the lake (which is really a man made resevoir).   To the west is the ocean.  The road to our community hugs the ridge.  At night, you can see the city lights on one side, their reflection twinkling off the lake.  On the other side, if you look at just the right time, you can see the blue of the Pacific through the mountain pass.  Its a beautiful drive.

Tonight, I couldn't see the lake or the ocean.  All I could see was water.  There was so much water on the road that it looked like the surface of the ocean as the wind blew it across the asphalt.  The wind was fierce and my poor little car was buffeted as the gusts screamed over the ridge.  There were rocks and boulders in the mud that flowed across from where the road is cut into the side of the mountain.  There was even a waterfall in one spot.  A waterfall!   My fingers were sore from gripping the wheel when I made it to the gate of our community.

So far, the only casualty on our property is one tree that fell.  The wind is howling around the house and there is the constant sound of rain hitting the windows.  This is a subtropical storm so the snow level is high.  We won't get a white Christmas out of this -- just a huge mess.