WINTER RAIN AND SNOW ARRIVE THREE WEEKS INTO JANUARY............

Surprising, the first nineteen days of this month, brought no rain and only little snowfall to Northern California, an anomaly as winter unfolds, but then since last Thursday appreciable rain has come to the greater Sacramento and San Francisco areas, and significant snow has fallen in the Sierra Nevada mountains. After two and a half weeks of no rain, the more than 2.5 inches of rain in the past five days, and several inches of snow to skiers delight in the mountains, has changed the dryness to wetness, and the rainfall doubled the total rainfall we have received since October, November, December, and the first half of January combined. Flashing flooding and storm warnings have resulted, but with the rainfall forecasted to dry up for the next week, the amount we need agriculturally is still far less than needed. Therefore, we welcome the precipitation we have gotten since January 20th, hopeful much more will come in balanced measures............Fr. Troy