One Very Unusual Storm!

Remnants of Hurricane Dolores have entered southern California with more force than I think people expected. Interstate 10 is closed at Desert Center, and Los Angeles recorded the wettest July on record. Of course, it almost never rains in Los Angeles in July, so almost any rain they receive will break the record. It's been raining heavily in parts of northern Arizona too. And it began clouding up in Sacramento too!

Storms like this make one believe more in global climate change. It's quite astonishing that a Pacific hurricane could cross the long, hostile expanse of cool water off the California coast with enough force to do this. I remember once poring through climate records trying to identify storms like this in the 20th Century, and there was maybe just one:

A washed-out bridge on Interstate 10 that cut off a vital shipping route with Arizona, mudslides in Moreno Valley and snarled Southern California freeway traffic from heavy weekend rain is only a preview of problems that could come with a strong El Niño this winter, forecasters say.

The weekend storm that washed over the region Saturday and Sunday was not only remarkable for its timing -- July rain storms are rare events in Southern California -- but for its strength, the National Weather Service said.

More than a dozen local rainfall records were broken over the weekend, the weather service reported, and more rain was forecast for Monday.