Now That's A Storm
Last weekend, meteorologists were talking about an upcoming storm so powerful we should all be on guard...and that the rainfall would take the Bay Area from historical lows to at or even above seasonal averages.
They said the storm would start Wednesday afternoon, then Thursday morning, and then yesterday afternoon. It did rain yesterday, but lightly, and I woke up this morning with my usual scoff at the morons that pose as weathermen and women.
Uh...not so fast. As usual, I'm eating my words.
That's the beginning of the Richmond-San Rafael bridge...for those new to the blog or with short memories, I just moved to San Rafael and...well, this is part of our daily commute. That bridge spent most of the day closed because several big rigs BLEW OVER from the high winds.
More after the fold, including more photos from a serious, serious storm.
I actually drove into San Francisco early this morning, to meet the Salvation Army at our old flat. They actually showed up and loaded up the truck with my ratty old stuff, something that clearly earns those guys a special reward somewhere down the line. Just brutal. 
The drive into the city took longer than usual because there was just so much damn rain. Some drivers slowed to crawls, while most of us just tried to stay out of each others way - I almost hydroplaned twice, and saw a gigantic lightning bolt out over the Marin Headlands. (Lightning in the Bay Area is especially rare, for those who don't live here.)
On the way back to Marin, I talked with Abby who simply could not get to work. She's a lot better of a person than I am, and was also the only person scheduled to be there this morning, so she persisted even though at that point, Highway 101 was closed in San Rafael due to construction materials falling across the freeway, and again, the Richmond Bridge was closed. She actually tried to go through the city, but eventually conceded it was futile and holed up at her folks house, where she still is hanging out the storm.
That's Mill Valley, and that's much LOWER water than I drove through in several places as I fumbled my way home. Luckily, I know the area and winded my way through Marin to avoid the horrid, horrid backups on the freeway. What do you do when the only freeway in the county simply shuts down? Those local roads weren't too crowded, though some had large branches, even trees in lanes. At literally every spot, debris from trees were simply everywhere.
The good news is that our new home seems to be fine - no leaks, the somewhat shaky looking trees we have worried about look (knock on the wood they're made of) strong and disinterested in the storm, which is a good thing. There are large puddles of water that have collected in both the back and front yard, and this is NOT a good thing...but we knew we had drainage "issues" when we bought the place. Hopefully they're small ones.
In any case, stay dry wherever you are, and Mr. Meterologist? Sorry for doubting ya.
