# Criminy, it's like Hurricane Andrew out there (California storms) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699 "2010-01-20T15:18:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/1 "2010-01-20T15:18:18Z")
And I’m about to get in my car and drive twenty-five miles to my job. The wind is blowing the pouring rain sideways, and near-gale-force winds are predicted for today. I hope none of the freeways are flooded, and that no jackasses have been trying to win the hydroplaning quarterfinals. Here I go. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/2 "2010-01-20T15:49:08Z")
The wind’s not so bad where I am, but I’m thinking I’ll work from home for a while until traffic settles down and most of the tree branches are either moved aside or splintered. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/3 "2010-01-20T15:53:49Z")
Wait while the rest of the country that actually experiences real weather events never cries for you. “…like Hurricane Andrew…” is almost insulting. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/4 "2010-01-20T17:31:30Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HiY95tW1RMQ/hqdefault.jpg "Ollie Williams "It's raining sideways"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiY95tW1RMQ) ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/5 "2010-01-20T19:18:13Z")
I took one look out my window and told my boss I’d be working from home today. Fortunately I can do most of my work with just an Internet connection and VPN software. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/6 "2010-01-20T22:19:11Z")
I dragged my butt into the office only to find my manager cancelled the meeting because of the rain. Fucker. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/7 "2010-01-20T22:52:15Z")
The wind has been kind of scary at times. I decided to take the kids and their friend to the roller rink for Skate Day, and everyone was going, and that entire end of town lost power when some poles snapped and the power cables went down. By the freeway. So it was a bit hard to get home. So I baked a cake. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/8 "2010-01-20T23:29:30Z")
There have been two tornado watches in three days in my own hometown, a few miles south of San Jose. This is almost unprecedented. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/9 "2010-01-20T23:56:53Z")
I’m in San Fran, and have had some crazy, butt-kicking weather in the last few days. But yeah, this ain’t nothing like a hurricane. I was in the middle of [Hurricane Gloria](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Gloria), and it was a LOT worse… Joe ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/10 "2010-01-22T04:32:43Z")
Hail! In Redondo Beach! I’m having flashbacks to when I lived in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/11 "2010-01-22T06:00:51Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > There have been two tornado watches in three days. Those of us in the midwest are thinking “so you are having a stretch of nice weather… what’s the fuss?” You know that a “watch” just means that “conditions are favorable.” That pretty much describes some of our seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/12 "2010-01-22T06:19:05Z")
I spent five years in the Norfolk, Virginia area, and it rained, lots; often and for long periods, light and heavy…it just rained a lot. Kinda like Oregon, only a little warmer. You’d think that a place used to that much rain wouldn’t have streets flooding and sewers backing up every time it rained more than an hour, right? Flooded, all the time, for little to no real reason. Go figure. So now I’m in deepsouth California, and it’s rained exactly 45 minutes total in the last year I’ve been here. Until this week. The skies opened up and stayed open for the last few days. Not a flooded street in sight. Go figure. ETA HowEVER…alarms were going off and kitchens were being shut down at work, because of all the leaks in the roof. Multiple co-workers have pots and pans around their houses, dealing with the leaks, leaks which are never fixed, ever, by anyone. Why? Why bother? It’s not like it ever rains… :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/13 "2010-01-22T06:23:52Z")
Anyone wants me, I’ll be in the root cellar. ko, Southern Arizona ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/14 "2010-01-22T17:57:10Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I spent five years in the Norfolk, Virginia area, and it rained, lots; often and for long periods, light and heavy…it just rained a lot. Kinda like Oregon, only a little warmer. > > You’d think that a place used to that much rain wouldn’t have streets flooding and sewers backing up every time it rained more than an hour, right? > Flooded, all the time, for little to no real reason. Go figure. > > So now I’m in deepsouth California, and it’s rained exactly 45 minutes total in the last year I’ve been here. > > Until this week. The skies opened up and stayed open for the last few days. > > Not a flooded street in sight. > > Go figure. > > ETA HowEVER…alarms were going off and kitchens were being shut down at work, because of all the leaks in the roof. Multiple co-workers have pots and pans around their houses, dealing with the leaks, leaks which are never fixed, ever, by anyone. > > Why? > > Why bother? It’s not like it ever rains… :dubious: Lots of rain = ground reaches saturation point. Rivers, runoff areas, aquafiers, etc, all get over loaded No rain = plenty of capacity to handle it. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/15 "2010-01-22T18:13:36Z")
We once drove on the big island of Hawai’i, from north to south down the eastern side on our way to Hilo. The clouds opened up and as heavy a rain as I’ve ever seen just engulfed us during that half-hour drive. I never knew what the phrase “tropical deluge” meant until that day. It has rained just like that for the last three days on my morning commute in the work. El Nino, give it a rest, wouldja? Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/16 "2010-01-22T19:01:35Z")
I’m a midwesterner and I feel for you guys in CA. There’s something eery about atypical weather. Wind scares me, the really big wind. I was almost hit by a falling tree in a storm when I was 5 so maybe that stuck with me. I still remember my mom yelling at me to drop the umbrella. Anyway, stay dry and safe. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/17 "2010-01-22T19:09:40Z")
> [@maladroit](#): > > … There’s something eery about atypical weather… Big, heavy winter storms are not all that atypical in the northern half of the state, although this particular storm system is pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/criminy-its-like-hurricane-andrew-out-there-california-storms/525699/18 "2010-01-22T19:30:55Z")
Yeah, I wouldn’t say that this storm has been unusual for our area. It has lasted a long time, but that’s been a good thing–we need the rain and it’s been off-and-on. The winds have been a bit scary at times, but we had a much worse windstorm 2 years ago. We always seem to get one strong one. I hope it rains more, but a day or two of sun inbetween would not come amiss. People around here get nervous if they can’t see the sun for a whole week. What if it doesn’t come back?? 😉