# It rained! It rained! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 22, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-rained-it-rained/286074 "2005-01-22T13:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-rained-it-rained/286074/1 "2005-01-22T13:08:39Z")
Last night there were three drops on my windshield on my way to town. This morning around nine the skies opened up and got a good three-hour frog-drowning gullywasher! It must have rained at leas three inches! Wind too! Just like home. Wonderful, the first rain we have had here in Jeddah in over a year. Today is the last day of the Hajj. I presume Mecca got zapped too. Not many people can say they got rained on at Hajj, good for them! Wee! ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-rained-it-rained/286074/2 "2005-01-22T14:01:34Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Wonderful, the first rain we have had here in Jeddah in over a year. :eek: And to think I used to hate Miami because it never snowed. Man, at least we got rain! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-rained-it-rained/286074/3 "2005-01-22T15:23:03Z")
It is snowing here. :mad: We are going to get 5-10 inches. I actually perfer cooler weather, but I hate the snow! ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-rained-it-rained/286074/4 "2005-01-22T16:59:42Z")
Geez, I hoped the people taking the Hajj packed umbrellas and suchlike… 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-rained-it-rained/286074/5 "2005-01-22T17:57:05Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > Wonderful, the first rain we have had here in Jeddah in over a year. When I was in Kuwait, we had a couple of near-monsoon-like storms that rolled in for a few nights, and then dissappeared. Is that the sort of rain you guys get over there: all or none? I’m thinking back to when I lived in Arizona. Down in “the valley” they would have monsoons that were pretty darn impressive. . . Tripler “I’m singin’ in the rain . . . just singin’ in the rain . . .” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-rained-it-rained/286074/6 "2005-01-22T18:25:43Z")
Well, eight years ago, in my first winter here, we had a modest rainy season. It was highly unusual though. We have no surface (fresh) water in the Kingdom and more or less operate on desalinization plants. What is strange is that there is no drainage on the roads and so on here. So now we are all set for a swarm of mosquitos. ---
**Author:** ![Mallory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mallory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallory)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-rained-it-rained/286074/7 "2005-01-22T19:45:02Z")
**Paul** , how did people manage before the desalinization plants were built? Did they have wells? ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-rained-it-rained/286074/8 "2005-01-23T00:27:56Z")
CNN has picked up [the story](http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/22/saudi.hajj.ap/index.html), but we heard it here first. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-rained-it-rained/286074/9 "2005-01-23T04:15:07Z")
The local papers put the news ‘above the fold’ this morning. Fortunately, it did not disrupt the final day of Hajj. We did a real good Hajj this year thank God. Aparently. in the Good Old Days people around here used wells and a couple of oasis to get water. But Back in the Day there were a lot less people.