drying out

That was quite a storm we got yesterday! In Chico, winds gusted upt to 35 mph from the south/southeast, and .59" of rain fell. Chico is now up to 24.51" for the rainy season, which began last July 1st. Normal annual rainfall in Chico is 26", so we're pretty much on the mark. There is a chance of showers today, but other than that, we should begin to wrap up this rainy season. The rainy season normally begins in mid to late October and tapers off around mid April.I remember when I first moved out here from Florida in 2002, I thought it was strange going months without seeing any rain. I'm more or less used to it now. What I can't get used to is the heat. Sure, the humidity is nothing near Florida, or Indiana (where I'm from), but when it gets above 100 degrees, it no longer matters if it's a dry heat. It's just plain hot! I wonder how hot it will be this summer. The summer of 2006 was quite hot, with 11 straight days of temperatures above 100 degrees in July of that year. The hottest temperature in Chico that year was 113 degrees, just 4 degrees shy of the all-time record. Hopefully this summer won't be like that, but we'll have to see. Anyway, here is the sunnier forecast for Chico from the National Weather Service:

Today: Showers likely, mainly after 11am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 52. South southeast wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Tonight: Isolated showers before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. East southeast wind between 3 and 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62. North wind between 3 and 9 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 41. North northwest wind around 9 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 71. North northwest wind around 7 mph.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 41.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 71.

Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 45.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 69.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 63.

Saturday Night: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 61.