El Niño

 

Sneaking in one last BBQ before the El Niño deluge begins!

 

Funny Facebook photos to the contrary (see above), the weather phenomenon, known as El Niño, is no laughing matter. Despite our historic drought, no one wants it to rain day-in and day-out. After all, perpetual sunshine is one of the reasons most people live in Southern California.

Today was our first El Niño storm. TV news was full of rain footage of jack-knifed trucks on the freeway and water-damaged buildings—what Tim likes to call "weather porn." Closer to home, at the end of our block, we have the Ballona Creek, a cement waterway that, most days, has no more than a trickle of moisture running through it. Not so this afternoon. 

 

 Last week: a truck driving down Ballona Creek

Storm waters today: Ballona Creek bike path 

flooded on the right

 

I had Tim take a "before" photo last week, when the creek was so dry a truck was able to drive along the water bed from the beach to Sepulveda Blvd. It's a completely different story today. See for yourself:

Hear the water roar: rain-swolen Ballona Creek

at the end of our block