This is funny - when I was driving around in the thick of this storm I didn’t even have my windshield wipers on the highest setting! Compared to where I grew up and spent the first 20 years of my life, typical California rain storms seem like mere drizzle (though weather related, human-caused accidents are significantly higher here).
In East Texas, whenever there is a storm, there is almost always a Tornado Watch (conditions exist) which would often escalate to a Tornado Warning (verified funnel). Not to mention, tornadoes decimated whatever they landed on. Add to that golf ball-size hail, perpetual lightning, flooding creeks and rivers, and cats and dogs with 3 foot visibility, and you have a real storm.
There is a place in Southern California where I have experienced storms that rival to those in East Texas. The high desert is a terrible place to be during a storm. The two most terrifying storms I have been in were driving through East Texas and driving across the high desert.
But here in Orange County, I am still waiting for a storm that impales my house with my garden hose and levels my shrubbery with hail. Until then, I shan’t bother with a raincoat and rubbers.
