Almost 3" of rain later...

When I saw rain pop up in the forecast early last week, I was skeptical because I’ve been disappointed so many times. But as the week wore on, the possibility of precipitation became more tangible even as the timeframe kept being pushed out.

Saturday brought intermittently cloudy skies and a few sprinkles, but not enough to register on any rain gauge. On Sunday, things became serious: rain was starting to fall, slow and hesitant at first, then heavy at times. I thought it would peter out on Monday, but just the opposite happened: rain on and off in the morning and afternoon, turning into a full-blown multi-hour event with lightning, thunder, and at times pelting rain.

Here’s a 1-minute video of the front yard in early evening. The rain was so loud, it’s hard to hear the claps of thunder throughout:

When all was said and done, we’d received 1.24" (31.5mm) on Sunday and 1.58" (40.1mm) on Monday for a total of 2.82" (71.6mm), all according to the UC Davis climate station:

Precipitation totals as per UC Davis climate station

Depending on where you live and what you’re used to, this may not seem all that impressive. But this much rain in September is exceedingly uncommon for us. I checked the climatological data for Davis as far back as I could (2004), and in the past 18 years, this is the most rain we’ve received in September—by far. Typically, our rainy season doesn’t start in earnest until mid- or late-October.

Not everyone is thrilled about so much rain so early. Cannabis growers are worried about mold developing on unharvested flowers, and native plant enthusiasts are concerned that seeds might germinate too early, just to dry out and die in the higher temperatures that are sure to come before fall arrives for good.

Me, I’m excited. We’d had a long and scorching summer—remember our record-breaking heat not long ago?—and even tough succulents are badly in need of an H₂O infusion. It’ll take a week or so, but our garden will look so much better very soon. Already, our largest Mangave ‘Mission to Mars’ has lost much of the bleached look, and its leaves have begun to lie down flat again instead of folding themselves over the middle of the plant to protect the growth center:

And the flower stalk on our Agave bovicornuta looks to be an inch taller than before the rain:

Another benefit: I won’t have to hand-water my potted plants for at least another week!

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