Some people in Santa Barbara were evacuated from their homes in the last storm and getting ready for Thursday and Friday

It didn't really rain enough to be a problem in Santa Barbara yesterday even though it hit pretty hard further south into Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties etc along the coast I hear. Friends who were evacuated to one of our family homes in Santa Barbara went back a few weeks ago to their home and their next door neighbor too. But, yesterday they were evacuated again in case the storm yesterday was bad. But, the one that looks scary is forecast to hit here in the SF Bay ARea on Thursday to dump 2 to 4 feet of snow in the Sierras above 2000 to 3000 feet in elevation. So, people are getting ready for this as far north as Canada now. One of the most disastrous places it might hit this time is Montecito. But, it shouldn't be as bad as last time because Grass and shrubs and trees have had a month or two to grow back. It's possible they have been digging catch basins too above most of the housing in Montecito with heavy equipment to try to trap some of the rocks, trees, mud and water from rolling through neighborhoods to the sea this time too.

Where I live I got out my gasoline powered generator in case trees go down as expected in the SF Bay Area along the coast and started it up in preparation in case we lose power in the next storm to hit us. It's been a Polar Vortex kind of 2 weeks here now after incredibly high temperatures into the 80s Fahrenheit (IN early FEBRUARY!?) before. We have had temperatures right along the ocean as low as 37 or 38 degrees but 10 miles inland they have had temperatures of 27 degrees which means whenever rain comes it is snowing above 2000 to 3000 feet even in Big Sur which might be a problem for some people sliding off roads down there in the coastal range of mountains around Big Sur and inland. If we get 1 to 2 inches of rain the coastal range often gets 4 to 5 inches in those storms and the winds often bring the big pine trees especially down in northern California. Redwoods are less susceptible to winds somehow because of how far out their roots go near the surface. So, they tend to not be blown down as much as pine trees. So, that's why you see Redwood Trees thousands of years old here in northern California, and up into Oregon and maybe Washington too.

However, Washington is more known for Port Orford Cedar trees which somewhat resemble the Redwoods and are often 6 feet or more through in  width. The Redwoods and the huge Cedars tend to be the biggest in diameter trees on the north West Coast of the U.S from Big Sur North.