I have lived in California long enough that it now seems normal for the hillsides to be green at Christmas and by Memorial Day weekend they have turned a crispy brown shade (otherwise called “golden” in the tourist information.)Summer weather is typically month’s of the same forecast — just minor adjustments for the temperature highs and lows.
This year has been an exception in that respect. Late rains were just enough so that some faint patches of green still remained on most of our nearby hills by the end of May. The weather for the first weekend in June has been even more remarkable. It actually rained! Not the “it never rains in California in the summer” rain where most of it dries before hitting the sidewalk. Not the coastal fog so thick that the moisture drips from trees. But actual, normal, enough to refill the bird bath, real rain.
So it rained on a couple of parades. Countless outdoor events were dampened. Some crops were at critical stages and received damage. But compared to the floods, tornadoes, fires and other natural disasters in the recent news, this was more of a case of Mother Nature providing many California residents a little something extra to help us remember the weekend events.