Miracle Alert!
It's raining!!!

A tropical storm, that hasn't been seen in Califormia, since 1939, which is actually before I was born, is due to arrive soon. I don't think it will be just California it affects, but may start the storm cycle earlier than usual, and move across a larger area. Of course, I am not known to be able to predict the weather, but just comment or complain about it.

However, Daphne is likely most vulnerable in her area near the southern coast. Daphne, please do whatever you can to stay safe during that time.

Prepare for heavy rain.

Yes, for all those this storm may affect,please prepare and be safe.

The storm heading towards California was mentioned on the news here in Australia. I hope all of my friends in this forum in the affected areas will be safe.

thank you for all the well wishers. so far, we battened down everything that we thought might get blown around. such as remove outdoor cushions to a safe location, remove wind chimes, take down hummingbird feeders, tie potted plants to fencing, etc.

but, i put the hummingbird feeders back, because they were flying around the garden in search of their feeding stations. so far, just breezy and large drops of drizzle. the feeders aren't swaying, yet. when the winds start to blow harder, i'll take them down again. the only thing i worry about, is that we have flat disk shaped ports, and rain water might dilute the solution. but, i guess, diluted food is better than no food?

i am up earlier than my normal time of 9-10 because i heard the heavy raindrops falling on our spanish style (tile)roof. i got up at 6:11 a.m. (three hr. earlier than normal). but, i was worried about the hummers, especially if they weren't hunkered down in their state of torpor during inclement cold weather.

as i was lead to believe, if hummers can't feed for that day they can perish unless they go into this state of semi-suspended animation. i don't know how true it is?

is there someone who is knowledgeable who knows about hummingbirds? perhaps you can enlighten us?

just a few minutes ago, i saw some blue between the clouds. now it's just grey and cloudy. the breeze is picking up, but no real "wind", yet. as soon as that starts, i'll be outside to take the feeders down, again. until then, i am trying to let the hummers feed. but it seems as tho' they're expending more energy defending "their" feeder chasing the other hummers away.

steady rain with huge drops, and wind picking up. i am taking feeders down while there's relatively fewer drops before the deluge that's coming. i still see a few hummers. maybe i'll leave 1 feeder up; the only one that has rain baffling on top.

then again, maybe i'll wait until the hummers stop flying around the feeders? ! i also see a few bees on the feeders.

Thinking of you, Daphne, and hoping you come through this unscathed.

We got a downpour with thunder and lightning last night, but it was over in about 20 minutes. Cloudy and cool today.

Nice to get some rain, though, right? Now that it's cool, are you able to get any work done in the yard?
We might get a little bit of rain from the remnants of this tropical storm - 0.10" inch at most. High of 85 predicted here.

gusts of wind and rain coming in ernest, now. taking the feeders down, even tho' some of the hummers are still tr(y)ing to feed. i may leave one up. but, with all the pelting drops of rain, i don't know how dilute the syrup will get?

Daphne ~ I am glad feeding your hummingbirds is your biggest concern. Please keep us up to date on your situation.

storm passed, nothing too damaged that time won't fix.

my japanese maple toppled, two large taro (mojito) plants got knocked over, and one alocasia 'mickey mouse' spilled over. a few tomato that we(er) heavy with fruit, got bent but i think will still grow. if not i'll harvest the green ones and make panko-breaded fried tomatoes as a side for dinner.

the 'storm' was less severe than some of the winter storms we get here, where winds gusts have been clocked up to 60-75 mph.

i think the area around us that may have gotten hit the hardest has been palm springs. major freeways and mudslides have brought things to a halt.

we live on a small hill, so the runoff from our yards feeds into gutters on our streets. the yard runoffs were planned well so we don't have too much of a drainage issue.

there was a small stream running in the gutters, and the neighbor's daughter in her bikini was having a good time with her friend. the rain and water was quite warm

there's a little displacement of our sandy soil in some beds, but not enough to warrant any real concern.

posted 2x☹️

I am so glad to hear that you,Daphne, and your property are ok with minor damage.Good news.

thank you derylin.

Daphne ~ That's wonderful that you are safe! We had a few thunder episodes with brief downpours. Lightning show last night.

Our springtime rain was much more prolific this year, but now things are barely wet.

thank you, evelyn. glad the weather advisory was out there with the warnings, and we fared better than predicted.

It seems like fall weather has arrived on time. Usually we have an extension of summer into fall, but not this year. It is decidedly crisp!

The summer this year was quite hot and stayed into the 90s for too long. And now, just a few days ago, it turned cool, into the 60s and 70s.

Who knows, maybe we will have an "indian Summer". I do not even try to predict what will happen. Anyone have any guesses?

On August 31, we had a high of 96, but since then the hottest it has been was one day when it hit 85. This is unusual weather - September is usually a very hot month, same as August. I am loving it! And we may even get rain on Monday!

Evelyn, I bet you'll get rain too!