Can you say “atmospheric river?” Unfortunately, we can! Since December, we have witnessed a number of major weather events — thankfully, mostly from the sidelines. When we were in Long Beach CA at Christmas time, the weather was primarily cold and rainy. Right after we left, the region was hit by a series of rainstorms —including atmospheric rivers and a bomb cyclone—that resulted in significant local flooding. We actually felt the impact in Las Vegas, where it rained for most of our three weeks there. Since arriving back in California—staying in Anaheim, Paso Robles, Watsonville, and Napa— we’ve experienced three atmospheric rivers (we think that’s it—we’ve lost count). We’ve seen some unusual sights—from snow-covered mountains viewed from downtown Anaheim and Claremont (unusual for everyone) to mudslides along the sides of major highways (unusual for us, much less so for the locals). When we were in Watsonville, we found ourselves very close to the flooded town of Pajaro, a very small community of farmworkers who are now all displaced for the foreseeable future. 

Of course, the weather is completely sensationalized these days, so it’s hard to know what to expect. It’s also challenging to analyze weather reports when you don’t know the area that well — does that flood and high wind warning really apply to our precise location? How close IS Watsonville to Pajaro, and is there any chance we’ll need to evacuate? (No, we were never in any danger.)

The weather has presented some travel challenges, as well. Fortunately, we’ve been jumping from site to site during breaks in the weather action, but road closures along the Central Coast and throughout Northern California have further complicated our already complex route planning. On our way from Watsonville to Napa, we ended up using Apple and Google maps, plus our RV-specific Garmin app, to successfully navigate amidst closed roads without driving into San Francisco (which we wanted to avoid at all costs with the camper—heck, we’re not even driving the truck there!). 

The folks who believe that climate change is a hoax should travel the country for a few months. Once you see the dry riverbeds in Kansas, listen to stories of cities cutting off water to nearby communities, try to drive along the Pacific Coast in the face of multiple road closures, etc. — it becomes very clear that we are in crisis mode. Just ask the folks in Pajaro or the families trapped by snow in their homes in the San Bernardino Mountains. We fortunate travelers have just been inconvenienced—they’ve been devastated.

PS: Apparently we dodged a bomb cyclone weather event in San Francisco — happened a couple of days after we headed north to the redwoods!