I have recently made fun of the responses Los Angeles residents and drivers have to the slightest bit of rain. Well, now it’s gotten “cold” here, so I’m going to do it again.
Just to be clear, that’s cold as in “below freezing overnight in some of the valleys” as opposed to cold as in “any exposed skin gets frostbitten in thirty seconds or less.” Granted, there are spots up in the high desert getting down into the teens, as well as plenty of sub-freezing temperatures up in the local mountains where they’re making snow for the ski resorts above 5,000′. (You didn’t know Southern California had ski resorts less than two hours’ drive from downtown? Skiing in the morning, surfing in the afternoon — people do it all the time here.) But I’m talking about down here in “the basin” and the valleys, which are all at sea level or maybe 500′ to 800′ above it.
As a result, while huge swaths of the country are experiencing scenes like these (stay safe out there, it looks ugly!), here in La-La Land for two days in a row we have had frost on the grass and windshields in the morning. And I have PROOF!
I can’t even imagine the terror and panic we would get in Los Angeles if there was actually snow and ice on the roads, especially during rush hour. We have absolutely zero-point-zero equipment for plowing or clearing roads, so if some freak storm ever comes through and dumps three or four inches on the freeway, we’ve got no choice but to wait for it to melt.
In addition, a huge percentage of the commercial buildings and houses here have flat roofs, with just a teeny-tiny slope built in so that rain drains off. I can guarantee that none of them were designed to hold up under a few thousand pounds of snow.
If it ever happens, they might as well just nuke us from orbit. It’ll be the only way to be sure.
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 