san jose weather

We had a string of storms last week, a welcome relief for our drought-parched state. The heavier-than-normal rain is due to the temporary change in water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the equator, simply known as El Niño.

While most of California welcomes the much-anticipated rain, other parts of the world are experiencing drought, above-average temperatures, and heavy flooding. I’m amazed that the increase in ocean temperatures by just a few degrees affects the entire globe. So while I celebrate this wonderful rain, I wish it didn’t come at such a cost.

I drove over the hill this week to the nearby mountain town of Felton. It’s a 45 minute drive on a winding road. The drive is pretty but sometimes treacherous as you make your way through the winding Santa Cruz mountains. I’m a nervous driver to begin with, so I drove slowly in the rain and fog, hugging the right lane all the way there. When I returned about an hour later, a large tree had fallen across three of the four lanes of highway. Traffic on my return journey moved at a crawl, while the opposing traffic was at a dead stop for miles/kilometers. Amazingly no one was hurt but I had a hard time shaking off the fact that I had driven past that same tree about an hour before.

By the time I exited the freeway, I’d passed the aftermath of two auto accidents, multiple emergency vehicles and the fallen tree. I was so happy to get home.

El Niño conditions will persist through at least March of this year. While I celebrate the arrival of the much-needed rain, I’m also tempering my enthusiasm with a healthy dose of caution.

What’s your weather up to?

How will we know when the drought is over? It’s complicated.

Severe El Nino puts the world in “uncharted territory.”

San Jose Weather Forecast

Fallen tree blocks traffic for five hours.

Smoky gray skies at dusk

Local temperatures soared again this weekend, breaking into the triple digits. What made it surreal was the oppressive air. Though wildfires still burn up and down the west coast, the Bay Area has been relatively untouched, other than a few small and quickly contained grass fires. This weekend the skies were a murky grey with the smell of burning wood. We kept going outside hoping to locate the source. The acrid smell got worse at dusk, probably due to the heavier evening air.

According to KTVU, one of our local TV stations:

Fire departments across the Bay Area received numerous calls Saturday, from concerned residents about seeing and smelling heavy smoke in the area, officials said.
KTVU meteorologist Rosemary Orozco says it has to do with a shift in the weather pattern. She says the onshore breeze normally would blow the smoke towards the Oregon and Nevada borders.
But a change in the weekend weather pattern is blowing the smoke from the Gold Country down towards the Bay Area.

Leading up to the weekend, I couldn’t wait to get started on another sheet-mulching project. After nearly four months, we finally have our lawn replacement plans in hand. Yes!!!

To qualify for the lawn replacement rebate, I have to wait for San Jose Water Company’s final plant approval. They have strict instructions NOT to start planting without prior go-ahead and that could take up to six weeks. The rebate pays $2 a square foot so it pays to play by the rules. That said, I am so over our brown, crispy “lawn.”

Forms and more forms. Santa Clara County likes to keep it old school

I drove the list of plants, the application and other requisite forms to the water department. Knowing how slow government agencies are, I didn’t want to waste another day mailing the packet. I left with an official looking date-stamped slip of blue paper. Now we wait.

The better news is that they we’re allowed to remove the lawn while we wait. The preferred method is sheet mulching. Since I already sheet mulched half the lawn last fall with great success, I was ready to get started.

I sheet mulched this area starting last October. It used to be lawn.

On Saturday morning, my back garden looked like this:

Did a wild raccoon go crazy with an overturned garbage can?

Did the rats throw a party in the compost bin?

Nope. I made that mess. On purpose. But only because my Friday night self didn’t know about our Strange Little Weekend ahead. Excited to get started, I tossed cardboard, compost and compostable material on to the pile just before dark. By the time I was home from Pilates and haircuts the following day, temps were searing hot.

This week I’m practicing patience while I hide from the heat. I’m thanking the universe for the extra time indoors to catch up on (yawn) my boring (yawn) paperwork. This heat won’t last forever.

How was your weekend? Is your week off to a good start?