LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Deluge, trickle or inundation: any way you spell it, rain gear was mandatory earlier this month.
The early February storm was a welcome relief from the dry winter weather we've experienced so far, but even with the south county's rain gauge reading 7 inches from that weekend storm, it did not put a dent in our county's average rainfall.
A typical season in our county's 1,329 square miles yields 33 inches, unless you live under the shadow of Mt. Saint Helena; then, the average reads closer to 55 inches per year.
A Lake County winter rain in all its glory comes down with a vengeance. Science Digest states that raindrops fall at a rate of seven miles per hour.
People aren't the only life forms that “perk” up after a storm. A walk in the woods displays nature in all her glory – but intensified.
Oak trunks swathed in green moss, or Bryophyta, already soft and plush, turn into luxuriant, glowing versions of themselves, and feel even more feathery to the touch after a soaking.
Birds shamelessly bathe in muddy puddles which is their way of keeping their intricate feathers functioning in top condition.
Although Lake County's creeks roar furiously, rough and muddy after big rains occur, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife states that the creek critters – fish and crawdads alike – had been experiencing a shrinking habitat with dwindling food supplies prior to the rains.
It's true that some of the inhabitants of the creeks will wash away; however, much-needed food will arrive from upstream to replenish stores of food. The deeper waters also will provide better habitat for hiding from predators.
Here's to rain in any form! According to the Rain Appreciation Society (who would have known there was such an organization?) there are various types of rain: Convection rain, common in the tropics, frontal rain that occurs with the movement of a weather depression, and relief rainfall, caused by the ocean's moisture.
The storm that we recently enjoyed was a moisture-laden system straight from the Pacific Ocean, known at the Pineapple Express.
As poet Langston Hughes said:
“Let the rain kiss you.
“Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.
“Let the rain sing you a lullaby.”
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.