Weird Weather...

Just before I went out to walk the dogs this morning, the heavens opened up and it poured – but only for a few minutes.  We got about 1 mm (4 hundredths of an inch) of rain.  The ground is wet, and all the brush was freshly dampened.  As I write this, it's raining again.

That part is only a little odd.  Here's the really weird part: we had a low pressure system move through last night that has our current pressure down to quite a low level.  Usually that means “big storm” is coming.  The temperatures have dropped as well (see instrument graphs at right, click to enlarge).  The forecast calls for Santa Ana-like wind conditions, but with the winds coming from the west instead of the east.  Here's an explanation of this odd phenomenon (called the “Inside Slider”).  We're located in the southern part of a strange local eddy.  Should be an interesting weather day or two!