ARTICLE
Out of tiredness from the constant rain these past three months, I just reviewed a list of the top 100 songs about rain. This seems to be the best way to pass the time, as the endless talk around the Central Coast (and almost all of California) is about the weather pattern since late December. And it doesn’t appear that we have any end of the rainy season in sight! We know that this is one of the wettest years on record. 10 atmospheric storms have hit California, with Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties, as well as the Central Coast, taking the brunt of the devastation. The latest storm on Monday and Tuesday brought us a new weather term: “A Cycle Bomb”. This was described as two eyes of the storm, combined with wind gusts of nearly 100 mph, pushing rain and wind never before seen by long-time residents. In a word, can we ask ourselves when is enough rain — enough? No More Cloudy Days by the Eagles’ Glenn Fry. Stormy Weather by Lena Horne. Raindrops Keep Falling on Head by B.J. Thomas. Rain is a Good Thing by Luke Bryan. Steady as the Rain by Dolly Parton. Raining on Sunday by Keith Urban. Rain on Me by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan. Singing in the Rain by Gene Kelly. Have You Ever Seen the Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Let It Rain by Eric Clapton. I Can’t Stand the Rain by Tina Turner. Go ahead, pick your favorite rain song and sing along to keep your sense of humor flowing. Researching several weather websites led to some amazing data about our region. weathercat.net provided an interesting comparison of year over year rainy seasons. To date, Santa Cruz has received 34.22 inches of rain from July 2022 to March 2023. We still face another week of March (and April can be an unpredictable weather month) where it is conceivable we will surpass the rain totals for 2016-2017. The staggering amount of rain from December 2022 through March 2023 (11.46, 9.32, 4.45 and 6.34 = 31.57 inches). In reviewing the weather.net chart, we see that 2016-2017 was the highest total rain on record (37.66 inches) over the span of years from 2007 to 2023. Taking a longer look at the rainy season dating back to 1893 shows that 1941 was the wettest year on record with a total of 63.3 inches. The top five wettest years are 1941 (63.3 inches), 1983 (59.7 inches), 1940 (57.1 inches), 1998 (54.0 inches) and 1909 (50.4 inches). You can see the year by year comparison here: https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/santa-cruz-ca/most-yearly-precipitation. So in general comparison 2022-2023 isn’t a high measure year - but it follows several years of drought. So why all the dizziness and impatience attitude with the rainy weather? Here is one reason: It is well known that the Central Coast — for all of our wonderful natural beauty — suffers from infrastructure deficiency. One only needs to drive on our rural county roads, city streets and our two major highways to understand how the atmospheric rain is causing unmanageable destruction. In a short span of a couple of weeks, our region was the nation’s disaster destination #1. President Biden, Governor Newsom and a host of federal, state and local elected officials came to view the weathered torn piers, commercial buildings and mountain of ocean debris and the disaster left behind. President Biden promised to be with us until we build back better. Governor Newsom helped direct $42 million to help the residents of Pajaro recover from the river breach that has left them homeless. Local authorities have worked around the clock to ensure that homes and businesses are safe to return to. Until then, residents of Pajaro, mostly immigrant agriculture workers, are not only locked out of their homes but also face the fact the fields are flooded with winter storm water. Our local press has been doing non-stop coverage as each day brings about another disaster story — a fallen tree on a mountain home, a washed out river bed floods a neighborhood, roads close, Seacliff pier is demolished, mud and debris require clean-up and there are many power outages (as one board member described in a post, “Again, in the past 30 days our power has been out for more days than it has been on”). A deepening concern is that the day the mounting financial cost to recover will be repaid, (build back better or just build to normal) is a long way away. A couple of editorials express concern from Lookout Santa Cruz post: Build Back Better sounds Great. But who is paying and when? https://lookout.co/santacruz/editorials/story/2023-01-30/storm-recovery-build-back-better-sounds-great-but-who-is-paying-and-when. Santa Cruz Sentinel Editorial — Pajaro Evacuations: When and Why: https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2023/03/20/editorial-pajaro-evacuations-when-and-why/ Santa Cruz Local: Flood Victims take refuge in South Santa Cruz County Shelters: https://santacruzlocal.org/2023/03/14/flood-victims-take-refuge-in-south-santa-cruz-county-shelters/ San Lorenzo Valley Post: Ben Lomond Neighborhood Seeks County Response on Highway 9 slide: https://slvpost.com/ben-lomond-neighborhood-seeks-county-response-on-the-highway-9-slide/ Each editorial and article points to open questions: Were we prepared for the largeness of the atmospheric weather conditions and the constant rain and wind for the past several months? Where, when and how long will it take to get to recovery and a sense of normal? When will evacuated families get relief? Can we find local funds to match the promised state and federal dollars? These are top of mind questions. I am certain as the winter storms subside we will begin to find answers and solutions for our weather beaten communities. The resilience of Santa Cruz County residents and our southern neighbors in Monterey County have always paved the road to recovery. The major obstacle is where will the money come to the region and how quickly. Until then I’m sticking with my current favorite: I Can’t Stand the Rain by Tina Turner.
Out of tiredness from the constant rain these past three months, I just reviewed a list of the top 100 songs about rain. This seems to be the best way to pass the time, as the endless talk around the Central Coast (and almost all of California) is about the weather pattern since late December. And it doesn’t appear that we have any end of the rainy season in sight!
We know that this is one of the wettest years on record. 10 atmospheric storms have hit California, with Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties, as well as the Central Coast, taking the brunt of the devastation. The latest storm on Monday and Tuesday brought us a new weather term: “A Cycle Bomb”. This was described as two eyes of the storm, combined with wind gusts of nearly 100 mph, pushing rain and wind never before seen by long-time residents.
In a word, can we ask ourselves when is enough rain — enough?
No More Cloudy Days by the Eagles’ Glenn Fry. Stormy Weather by Lena Horne. Raindrops Keep Falling on Head by B.J. Thomas. Rain is a Good Thing by Luke Bryan. Steady as the Rain by Dolly Parton. Raining on Sunday by Keith Urban. Rain on Me by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande. A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan. Singing in the Rain by Gene Kelly. Have You Ever Seen the Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Let It Rain by Eric Clapton.
I Can’t Stand the Rain by Tina Turner. Go ahead, pick your favorite rain song and sing along to keep your sense of humor flowing.
Researching several weather websites led to some amazing data about our region. weathercat.net provided an interesting comparison of year over year rainy seasons. To date, Santa Cruz has received 34.22 inches of rain from July 2022 to March 2023. We still face another week of March (and April can be an unpredictable weather month) where it is conceivable we will surpass the rain totals for 2016-2017.
The staggering amount of rain from December 2022 through March 2023 (11.46, 9.32, 4.45 and 6.34 = 31.57 inches). In reviewing the weather.net chart, we see that 2016-2017 was the highest total rain on record (37.66 inches) over the span of years from 2007 to 2023. Taking a longer look at the rainy season dating back to 1893 shows that 1941 was the wettest year on record with a total of 63.3 inches. The top five wettest years are 1941 (63.3 inches), 1983 (59.7 inches), 1940 (57.1 inches), 1998 (54.0 inches) and 1909 (50.4 inches).
You can see the year by year comparison here: https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/santa-cruz-ca/most-yearly-precipitation. So in general comparison 2022-2023 isn’t a high measure year - but it follows several years of drought.
So why all the dizziness and impatience attitude with the rainy weather? Here is one reason: It is well known that the Central Coast — for all of our wonderful natural beauty — suffers from infrastructure deficiency. One only needs to drive on our rural county roads, city streets and our two major highways to understand how the atmospheric rain is causing unmanageable destruction. In a short span of a couple of weeks, our region was the nation’s disaster destination #1. President Biden, Governor Newsom and a host of federal, state and local elected officials came to view the weathered torn piers, commercial buildings and mountain of ocean debris and the disaster left behind.
President Biden promised to be with us until we build back better. Governor Newsom helped direct $42 million to help the residents of Pajaro recover from the river breach that has left them homeless. Local authorities have worked around the clock to ensure that homes and businesses are safe to return to. Until then, residents of Pajaro, mostly immigrant agriculture workers, are not only locked out of their homes but also face the fact the fields are flooded with winter storm water.
Our local press has been doing non-stop coverage as each day brings about another disaster story — a fallen tree on a mountain home, a washed out river bed floods a neighborhood, roads close, Seacliff pier is demolished, mud and debris require clean-up and there are many power outages (as one board member described in a post, “Again, in the past 30 days our power has been out for more days than it has been on”). A deepening concern is that the day the mounting financial cost to recover will be repaid, (build back better or just build to normal) is a long way away.
A couple of editorials express concern from Lookout Santa Cruz post: Build Back Better sounds Great. But who is paying and when? https://lookout.co/santacruz/editorials/story/2023-01-30/storm-recovery-build-back-better-sounds-great-but-who-is-paying-and-when.
Santa Cruz Sentinel Editorial — Pajaro Evacuations: When and Why: https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2023/03/20/editorial-pajaro-evacuations-when-and-why/
Santa Cruz Local: Flood Victims take refuge in South Santa Cruz County Shelters: https://santacruzlocal.org/2023/03/14/flood-victims-take-refuge-in-south-santa-cruz-county-shelters/
San Lorenzo Valley Post: Ben Lomond Neighborhood Seeks County Response on Highway 9 slide: https://slvpost.com/ben-lomond-neighborhood-seeks-county-response-on-the-highway-9-slide/
Each editorial and article points to open questions: Were we prepared for the largeness of the atmospheric weather conditions and the constant rain and wind for the past several months? Where, when and how long will it take to get to recovery and a sense of normal? When will evacuated families get relief?
Can we find local funds to match the promised state and federal dollars?
These are top of mind questions. I am certain as the winter storms subside we will begin to find answers and solutions for our weather beaten communities. The resilience of Santa Cruz County residents and our southern neighbors in Monterey County have always paved the road to recovery. The major obstacle is where will the money come to the region and how quickly. Until then I’m sticking with my current favorite: I Can’t Stand the Rain by Tina Turner.