# Los Angeles Storm Watch 2008 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 2, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042 "2008-01-02T22:14:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/41 "2008-01-04T21:37:49Z")
I’ve been watching this thread since I lived in LA from 1992 until 1996 and remember how rain was a huge emergency (sometimes it actually _was_ if you lived on a cliff, but still!), and now I’m in Idaho and am getting the same storm, only here it’s snowing. It only started a little while ago but it’s coming down like crazy out there. A few days after I moved from Texas to LA, one of the weather guys put up a map of all the lightning strikes around the area for that year. I was totally confused by this, having been through some serious storms that probably produced more lightning in five minutes than was indicated on the map. I mean, seriously, it was a moment of culture shock. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/42 "2008-01-04T21:40:12Z")
[QUOTE=whiterabbit] A few days after I moved from Texas to LA, one of the weather guys put up a map of all the lightning strikes around the area for that year. I was totally confused by this, having been through some serious storms that probably produced more lightning in five minutes than was indicated on the map. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but we’re totally all about quality over quantity out here. Our lightning strikes were WAY better! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![rostfrei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7bcc69/32.png) [@rostfrei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rostfrei)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/43 "2008-01-04T22:19:03Z")
I’ve always gotten a chuckle from how people react to weather situations. When I lived in Virginia, we had an ocassional (mild) winter storm, but often a storm would be predicted and it wouldn’t happen after all. If the weather forecast even mentioned a slight chance of snow flurries, everyone would suddenly develop an appetite for french toast. (i.e. no milk, eggs or bread in any stores). Also, schools would automatically close if flurries were mentioned. When I was a child in Missouri, the opposite was true when it came to closing the schools. We had a LOT of snow, and I can count on my fingers how many times (in 12 years) school was closed as a result. Kinda makes me wish I was born and raised in Virginia. I noticed the same this morning when I watched the news. Almost the entire news cast at 7am was dedicated to the storm. It’s just rain and wind…it happens. I can understand reporting it, but why do we need 10 different reporters in 10 different parts of the region with live reports? This morning a reporter witnessed part of an awning that was blown down at a gas station. The aftermath was shown and the media people were going on and on about it, as if it were the most amazing thing they’d ever seen happen. ---
**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 4, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/44 "2008-01-04T23:16:02Z")
[QUOTE=Queen Bruin] 'Kay, I’ve got the tequila and some Queen on the radio. Should start raining any time now. [/QUOTE] I’d’ve figured it would be ABBA. Up here it’s raining quite a bit, but not nearly as much as it usually does when storms come it. I’m from Oregon and we rarely had storms as intense as California storms, it just drizzled every day from September til April. I’ve gotten quite a few emails from people working at their homes reporting sporatic power outages. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/45 "2008-01-04T23:19:38Z")
It doesn’t help to be California Dreamin’ when the winter’s day is freakin’ _here._ I wish I were still in Mexico. Wait nevermind, that’s the Mamas and the Papas. ABBA? Good lord whatever for? **Johnny** : 😛 😃 ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/46 "2008-01-05T01:57:29Z")
Okay, now I believe it. It started around 2pm and has been pouring ever since. Good–i can turn off the sprinklers, since we’re supposed to be cutting back on water usage by 20%. (How are we supposed to know how much that is, btw?) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/47 "2008-01-05T02:57:31Z")
It’s been coming down pretty good here since around 3:00pm. I was listening to the news on the radio on the way home from work. The idiot newscaster said that this was the biggest storm so far this year. Does anyone over there bother to edit their work? ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/48 "2008-01-05T03:55:05Z")
I forgot who it was on the radio doing the weather forecast that day, might have been Ted Ziggenbush (sp?). Someone just got fired from KOST a couple weeks ago, I think it was the Sack-a-la-reedees guy. As for the rain: It hit while I was at work today. I soaked my feet and pant legs in a deep puddle while walking to the bus stop, and had to endure an uncomfortable bus ride home. At least now I am in dry clothing and enjoying a cup of green tea. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/49 "2008-01-05T04:58:51Z")
Kay, it’s here. Rain’s making my dirt road difficult to navigate. Not impassible yet, but it’s getting there. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/50 "2008-01-05T05:04:08Z")
[QUOTE=Lucky 13] the Sack-a-la-reedees guy. [/QUOTE] Mike Sakellarides. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/51 "2008-01-05T05:46:59Z")
Huh, nothing here so far. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/52 "2008-01-05T06:10:23Z")
It started in LA mid-afternoon; I spoke to someone in Orange County around 5 or 6, but no rain there at that point. But by the time I was driving home, there were already massive puddles on the road. The 110 became even more treacherous than usual. Surprisingly, most everyone held to a decent speed. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/53 "2008-01-05T07:20:00Z")
I was just listening to the 11pm news. They said Downtown LA has gotten a little over an inch so far, and Ojai has gotten four inches. Some canyon I’d never heard of in Santa Barbara County was near nine inches. I’m not impressed by an inch in LA, but hopefully there’s still a lot more to come. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/54 "2008-01-05T07:57:31Z")
I just saw the news, and the 1" was for downtown, which usually does not get near as much rain as the valley or the foothills. I live near the edge of the San Fernando Valley and my seat of the pants guess is that I have had well in excess of 1" here. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/55 "2008-01-05T14:14:34Z")
It started raining in San Diego sometime overnight. It’s raining decently right now, but it sounds worse than it really is because it’s also pretty windy. The wind started up last night - about when Astroboy posted I was driving home and there were leaves blowing all around. According to my Yahoo page, we’ll see rain throughout the day, and they say it’ll be 1/2-1 inch. That’s not catastrophic for most parts of town (Fashion Valley and burned out areas excepted). ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/56 "2008-01-05T16:37:39Z")
In the SGV, rain stopped some time overnight; I went to check for damage since the winds had been pretty high and so far so good. An empty trash barrel had about seven inches of water in it, so we did get a pretty good soak. It looks like we’ll get a break now until Sunday afternoon. Just in time to soak the roads for Monday’s nightmare commute! ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/57 "2008-01-05T18:48:32Z")
[QUOTE=Asimovian] I’m not impressed by an inch in LA, but hopefully there’s still a lot more to come. [/QUOTE] That is what every guy I knew in West Hollywood would say every weekend. Back to rain - we had a little bit of rain in Las Vegas overnight, but supposedly more to come from California today and into tomorrow. Reno got quite a bit of snow and rain yesterday, but so far we have only had smatterings of rain…and as I said, we sure do need it, but just not in one big storm in a short period of time. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/58 "2008-01-05T20:39:55Z")
Snow on the mountains above Palmdale and mud at my house. All the neighborhood kids are out on their ATVs and dirtbikes (Get off my mud, damn kids!). It’s overcast but the wind is still, always a blessing. I’m so glad I don’t have to be at class by 9:30am this quarter. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/59 "2008-01-06T03:06:05Z")
Unless we get a final pass, I declare this storm to have been interesting but still far wimpier than predicted. There was sunlight this afternoon. Anyone in the LA area with a different take? ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042/60 "2008-01-06T03:36:16Z")
Nope. Definitely a disappointment. I felt like an idiot walking the property this morning to see if everything was okay. But my brother in SF emailed; he said it’s insane up there. Downed trees that you wouldn’t expect to see absent a hurricane. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/los-angeles-storm-watch-2008/432042.md?page=4)