Community Chat

[Noel7]

@shoekitty

I know what you mean, we don't usually get this kind of storm this early.  It was so heavy about an hour or so ago, we thought it was hail.  That's unusual.

[Say Nay]

Hi Noel and thanks for this thread. We're expecting a bit of rain in SoCal tomorrow which is welcome but I'm sure as time goes on we will get more than we can handle. 

I purchased a Goal Zero. This can be charged off of solar or electricity. What's intriguing about this are the lights that work with it. They draw 4.5 watts which means I can run several lights for quite a long time which is great if we end up with a power outtage lasting for more than a day. 

This is the Yeti "generator": 

http://www.goalzero.com/p/165/goal-zero-yeti-400-solar-generator

These are the lights that run off of the Yeti:

http://www.goalzero.com/p/319/light-a-life-350-led-light

This company also makes lights that run off of your USB. Goal Zero prices are cheaper elsewhere so shop around. 

Everyone up north stay safe. 

[shoekitty]

@Noel7

Do you get hail your way?  We do, but usually it is a freak hail, and can come down in buckets  Most of the time it comes in April or May, and does damage to fruit trees.  Hate that!  3 years ago the hail was so thick and so huge (for California,) I took video.  The hail was the size of quarters!.  It bounced everywhere.  After it stopped (it came down a good 6 minutes solid) the ground was thick with a white carpet, about 1 inch  solid.  My grandson and I  put a bowl out and collected it, then we put it in freezer so he could show Grampa and his Dad!  Amazing.  Our nectarine tree was a baby at the time, I ran out so fast and covered it with sheet I have stored on the patio.  Thank God, because my blossoms were saved,not so so lucky was the plum tree!

I am a born and bred Californian, so things like hail of this kind was exciting to me.  And pretty as well.  However, I do realize it can be dangerous, and it is not good for crops and plant.

[Plaid Pants2]

We had hail yesterday. I was driving along, when I happened to come across where it had hailed about a half hour earlier. It looked like snow was on the ground.

I knew better than to even think about touching my breaks. I just took my foot off of the gas, and let my car slow down naturally.

I hate driving in hail!

Oh, and we only get the pea sized stuff.

[ROMARY]

Non weather related:  Hi, NOEL........I'm still here!  No red flashing modem all night and this morning.  (Yesterday, yes, but I remedied it by calling my landline using my cell phone (as I mentioned before, lol) throughout the day. Which worked each time! (Strange as it sounds) )  At least I had access to the Internet.  I like Mozilla Firefox!  Thanks for all of your help.   Glad to be back.   Everyone else: Keep safe and be careful driving, etc.  Lots of good luck to all.  .........

[Noel7]

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@The Monkey on My Back wrote:

Hi Noel and thanks for this thread. We're expecting a bit of rain in SoCal tomorrow which is welcome but I'm sure as time goes on we will get more than we can handle. 

I purchased a Goal Zero. This can be charged off of solar or electricity. What's intriguing about this are the lights that work with it. They draw 4.5 watts which means I can run several lights for quite a long time which is great if we end up with a power outtage lasting for more than a day. 

This is the Yeti "generator": 

http://www.goalzero.com/p/165/goal-zero-yeti-400-solar-generator

These are the lights that run off of the Yeti:

http://www.goalzero.com/p/319/light-a-life-350-led-light

This company also makes lights that run off of your USB. Goal Zero prices are cheaper elsewhere so shop around. 

Everyone up north stay safe. 

---

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Hi there, Monkey   I hope it's ok to shorten your name.

Thank you for all the information and links!!!  I hadn't heard of them and I am all for back-up plans!

[Noel7]

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@shoekitty wrote:

@Noel7

Do you get hail your way?  We do, but usually it is a freak hail, and can come down in buckets  Most of the time it comes in April or May, and does damage to fruit trees.  Hate that!  3 years ago the hail was so thick and so huge (for California,) I took video.  The hail was the size of quarters!.  It bounced everywhere.  After it stopped (it came down a good 6 minutes solid) the ground was thick with a white carpet, about 1 inch  solid.  My grandson and I  put a bowl out and collected it, then we put it in freezer so he could show Grampa and his Dad!  Amazing.  Our nectarine tree was a baby at the time, I ran out so fast and covered it with sheet I have stored on the patio.  Thank God, because my blossoms were saved,not so so lucky was the plum tree!

I am a born and bred Californian, so things like hail of this kind was exciting to me.  And pretty as well.  However, I do realize it can be dangerous, and it is not good for crops and plant.

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Hi @shoekitty

I think it was hail.  We were sitting in the kitchen next to a window and it was pinging off the glass.  IMO not the sound of rain.  DH went to the front of the house and looked but couldn't tell, it only lasted a couple of minutes.  We did have rolling thunder a couple of times.

I like it when it hails, too.  Snow has been rare, but I remember it in 1976  

Record of San Francisco snow fall:

Year Day Amount Remarks 1856 Dec 25 2.5"

1868 Jan 12 2.0"

1882 Dec 31 3.5" Snow fell from 11:30am to 4:20pm.

1884 Feb 7 1.5" Snow fell off and on during the day. Depths from 1 to 2".

1887 Feb 5 3.7" Snow fell during the day. Up to 7" of Twin Peaks.

1888 Jan 16 0.1" 1896 Mar 3 1.0" Fell as brief heavy snow at night.

1932 Dec 11 0.8" 1952 Jan 15 0.3"

1962 Jan 21 Unofficial 3" in Sunset and Westlake Districts

1976 Feb 5 1.0" Up to 5" at top of Twin Peaks. Unofficial 3" in Sunset and Westlake Districts.

http://ggweather.com/sf/snow.html

[Noel7]

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@Plaid Pants2 wrote:

We had hail yesterday. I was driving along, when I happened to come across where it had hailed about a half hour earlier. It looked like snow was on the ground.

I knew better than to even think about touching my breaks. I just took my foot off of the gas, and let my car slow down naturally.

I hate driving in hail!

Oh, and we only get the pea sized stuff.

---

****************************

That was scary, PP2, I hate driving in hail, too. 

[Noel7]

ROMARY, I'm glad to see things are better for you on the internet!

[ROMARY]

Thanks, Noel.  So far, so good.  No more red flashing, so far.  I've been channeling all of the lucky stars in the Universe........so they will over-ride any electronic malfunctions that were transmitting into my Internet connections, lol...........