First Rain Measured

The first millimeter of rain for the season was measured at 2:56AM Tuesday, September 20th, 2005.

First Rain

The roofers finished up Sept 9th. Not a moment too soon. It remains to be seen if the rain we are receiving right now will amount to enough to register on the rain gauge, but it is most definitely raining here tonight. The rain guage resolution is 1mm (.04"). While the rain we have had so far tonight has not been enough to register, I am awake listening to gentle rainfall and distant thunder. There is water running off our brand new roof. I couldn't be happier.

A Close Shave

We were woken up at 2:30 this morning by thunder! Our roof looked just like you see here. There was intense lightning half a mile away, but we have a huge tree above, and we decided in the heat of the moment that the tree was likely to work as a pretty effective lightning rod. Norah and I scaled the roof under surprisingly bright skies and laid spanning lumber and rolled out plastic in the middle of the night. I guess that the excellent visibility was due to the city lights reflecting off the clouds. We were finished by 3:30 am. It only sprinkled on us for less than a minute, and was so light that it didn't accumulate anywhere. Even still, I had no way of knowing we would get off that easy. As soon as I felt the first drops, the 2x6 lumber I was hauling became feather light. I had reports on Sunday and Monday from people only a few miles away who saw "significant downpours" for up to half an hour. We got off easy this time. Needless to say, we picked up the pace on finishing the roof :)

Hip to be Square?

Well maybe it was all the rain we just had that sparked the interest, but it seems that reporters have locked onto the personal weather stations in Altadena. A couple months ago, we were interviewed for an article in the Altadena Heritage Foundation newsletter, drawing attention to them, and just today we made the front page of the Pasadena Star-News under the headline "The Weather Underground". I take it as a badge of honor that the story ran side-by-side with the headline "Revenge of the nerds" featuring a picture of a hottie sporting a tiny-t emblazoned with the slogan "I [heart] Dorks" :)

End of the rain year

In Southern California, the official rainy season ended last night at midnight. Here at Stonehill News we measured 61.61 inches for the season. This total is closely corroborated by nearby personal weather stations.

Eric Malnic, Staff Writer for the Los Angeles Times, complained yesterday, "The epic 2004-05 rain season comes to an end at midnight tonight, and downtown Los Angeles missed the all-time record by a measly 0.93 of an inch."

He goes on to note,

This rain season, which ran from July 1 to June 30, ends with 37.25 inches falling at the National Weather Service monitoring station at USC. The wettest season on record was 1883-84, when 38.18 inches fell in downtown Los Angeles.

But the rainfall was actually much greater in other cities in Southern California, especially in hillside communities.

Pasadena had 56.06 inches of rain this season, almost 10 inches more than the previous record of 46.62 in 1982-83. Burbank had 44.64 inches, compared with the old record of 39.39 in 1977-78. Canoga Park, with 41.50, squeaked past its old record of 40.19 in 1997-98.

With no long-term historical data to compare our readings too, I think we will have to conclude that the rain season of 2004-2005 is the season to beat at Stonehill News.

Quiet Dog :)

I had a very productive conversation with the owner of the dog who's barking has been at issue recently. His name is Mohan Chhabra, and he was extremely understanding about the issue. He was also extremely frustrated and annoyed that the issue had been allowed to get out of hand, with leaflets being distributed and Animal Control being contacted, before he was given a chance to do anything about it. From my phone call with him, I can attest to the fact that Mohan is a rational and level headed individual. Mohan told me that a missive in his mailbox on May 9th was the first contact that had been made with him or his family on the subject, and that the leaflets went out around the neighborhood on May 11th, hardly enough time to do anything about it. I will again attest that given his level-headed-ness and willingness to resolve the issue, I find it utterly credible that, despite other neighbors expressing facts to the contrary, he and his family were utterly unaware that there was an issue until after things had escalated unnecessarily.

I deeply regret that the facts got distorted in our little neighborhood game of whisper-down-the-lane. There was a great deal of unnecessary distress inflicted on the Chhabra family. I personally recommend that if you were involved in the "campaign" to abate the barking dog, you contact me for their phone number, or visit them in person and express your gratitude for promptly addressing the problem and your condolences for the un-neighborly manner with which the problem was handled. Mohan indicated that he would greatly appreciate the sentiment if people would call and offer an apology for escalating the issue in an impersonal manner without doing him the courtesy of talking to him in person or even leaving an anonymous note in his mailbox, for those that might not cherish the idea of a possible "confrontation" with him. I can tell you, however, such a fear is utterly groundless, as he is an utterly civil and understanding person, who is completely motivated to be a good neighbor, despite feeling a bit put upon at the moment.

New speed limit?

The new crop
As you are most likely aware, a new generation of children is growing up amongst us. We have at least half a dozen children of pre-school and kindergarten age living on Stonehill Drive, and another handful of grand-children in that same age range who visit and play here on a regular basis.

Why the new sign?
You probably noticed the home-made sign that went up on Stonehill Drive recently. For those of you who hadn’t heard, a car accident occurred on Stonehill Drive not too long ago. One of our neighbors was backing out of his driveway, and was hit by a gardening truck that was traveling down the hill. There was major damage to the vehicle. Thankfully this time it was a car that was hit and no one was hurt.

Speeding downhill?
It is easy to forget how steep our street is. On a flat road, stopping distance is proportional to the square of the speed. Translation? Doubling your speed quadruples your stopping distance in the best of conditions. When traveling downhill, as on our street, stopping distances are more than quadrupled when speed is doubled. With summer on the way and so many children (and pets) in the neighborhood, combined with the steep hill and numerous “blind” front yards due to tall shrubs, etc, it is a good time to take a moment to remind your guests, visitors and workers to keep their speed in check. Please remind them that even mid-day during the week, there is a good chance that children might dart out from behind a hedge.

Pedestrian/car accidents
Pedestrian fatalities are the second-leading cause of motor vehicle-related deaths, following occupant fatalities. Pedestrian-related fatalities account for about 13% of all motor vehicle-related deaths. On average, one pedestrian in the United States is killed in a traffic crash every 101 minutes.

Who is at risk for pedestrian Injuries?
Children 15 years and younger represented 23% of the total population and accounted for 30% of all nonfatal pedestrian injuries, 11% of all pedestrian fatalities, and 18% of non-traffic related fatalities (this includes incidents in drive-ways and other non-public roads). Among children between the ages of 5 and 9 who were killed in traffic crashes, 25% were pedestrians.

Speeding Accidents
Speeding is defined as traveling faster than the posted speed limit, or traveling too fast for the road conditions even at speeds under the posted limit. It's a major road safety problem because it dramatically increases braking distance and significantly increases crash severity.

Prima Facie Speed Limits
The 2005 California Vehicle Code states:

• 22352. (a) The prima facie limits are as follows and shall be applicable unless changed as authorized in this code and, if so changed, only when signs have been erected giving notice thereof: […]
• (2) Twenty-five miles per hour:
• (A) On any highway other than a state highway, in any business or residence district unless a different speed is determined by local authority under procedures set forth in this code. […]

Basic Speed Law
The 2005 California Vehicle Code states:

• 22350. No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.
• Amended Ch. 252, Stats. 1963. Effective September 20, 1963.
• 360. "Highway" is a way or place of whatever nature, publicly maintained and open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. Highway includes street.

Common Sense
Despite the fact that California law defines the prima facie speed limit to be 25 mph on Stonehill Drive, given the Basic Speed Law, it might be argued that the prima facie speed limit is not “reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway,” or that the prima facie speed limit is “a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.” As such, common sense suggests that 15 mph might be the “reasonable or prudent” speed limit on Stonehill Drive.


Thanks for helping out :)