Winter in the Bay Area

While it is not unusual for January to be rainy in the Bay Area, last month felt like it was raining almost all of the time. Maybe this was because I needed to patch and paint my front porch and the patch needed at least 24 hours to dry properly and I wanted a few clear days to do the paint job. We patched it on December 16th and I did not have a chance to paint it until late January. So in my mind there was not a stretch of clear days in that period. I actually looked it up, and here is what I found. 

A lot of cloudy days! (grey = cloudy)

But maybe not as much rain as I thought? (I painted on the 28th)

However, having said that, there were several times that I had a marvelous walk or hike and did not get rained on at all! The day of the crosstown trail hike was perfect, and last Tuesday I went out for my normal after work run along the bay, which is generally about six miles, and it was so nice I did double the mileage! I went all the way from my office to Hoppers Hands / Fort Point, where I watched the surfers catch some waves under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was so beautiful and it made me remember why I like running, but I was definitely a little sore a couple of days later!! It was completely worth it though. 

Headed out to Fort Point from Crissy Field.

FYI, here is what it looked like two Tuesdays before this! 

I got completely drenched on this run!

I would say that my least favorite weather when doing outdoor activities is probably rain. When you are backpacking, being wet all day and setting up your tent in the rain is really not that fun. Trying to get warm while also not getting your only dry item (your sleeping bag - hopefully!) wet is not that fun. Having to put wet clothes back on the next day and start hiking is not that fun. Going out for a run when it is raining is hard mentally. In fact, I don't mind running in the rain too much, but I prefer it if it is not raining when I start running; it is just hard mentally to step outside knowing you are immediately going to get wet. Commuting to work by bicycle is also not that fun. 

Headed to work.

I know this is probably easy for me to say, since I do not live in a place where it is -30 F in the winter, but for outdoor activities, I would rather have snow or (slight) cold than rain. Obviously I do not want to freeze my butt off, but I can put on an extra layer at least. I hate being wet. 

The silver lining is that this January the lows have not been that low. Usually we get down into the just below freezing or just above freezing area, but we have had pretty steady temperatures lately and I often don't even have to put on the heater. Don't get me wrong, I do have to wear socks and an extra sweater, but the winter has been fairly mild. The blue bars in the chart below are the actual lows, whereas the blue line is the average lows. Check out the 31st; the low and the high were almost the same!

The arrow points to the day I had the great run (almost 70 degrees!)

Last week the predictions for the next 6 or 7 days was rain, and for Sunday and Monday (yesterday and today) it was supposed to be a bomb cyclone or an atmospheric river or some hoo-ha. So dramatic. They even had signs on the freeway saying not to travel both days and a tornado warning. The city of San Jose even declared a state of emergency due to flooding. 

So yesterday I was planning to go out for a run but it was pouring when I would normally start, so I decided to put it off. However, it was basically 100% chance of rain, with not even one hour that was not supposed to rain. But, around 7:30 it sounded like it was slowing down a little, so I decided to chance it and I did not get rained on until about midway through my run! I got about 45 minutes of basically no rain. The last half was wet but I did what I wanted, I started with no rain! Also, at the end of the run, I saw my third ugly Tesla truck!! I saw one in Monterey, then another last week in Danville, and this one was in Oakland. I guess they are hitting the streets! 

Pretty ugly eh? 

The bomb cyclone never manifested, but we did have some really heavy wind and I was out of power for about two hours in the middle of the day. Luckily, I had charged my phone so I just made myself a cup of tea (yay for gas), did the dishes and tidied up the house while listening to my audiobook. So basically exactly what I would have done anyway. 

So now that it is February, and Punxsutawney Phil has predicted an early spring, here's hoping that means less rain for this month!! I guess that also means I will have less excuses to not go outside and go running or biking? Time to get my butt in gear! 

Speaking of rain, I heard a joke! If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring? 

...Pilgrims! 

How is your winter going so far? Do you think we are overreacting to the weather? Have you seen the new Tesla yet and/or do you like it?