Real Malibuites Don’t Let Gray Skies Dampen Their Holiday Fun

• There Is No Shortage of Red, Green and Blue to Help Color Community Festivities Bright

BY ANNE SOBLE

To no one’s great surprise, what is usually referred to as the weather has shown complete disregard for the human calendar. If it’s the holiday season, it must be the time for rainstorms, strong winds, record-breaking cold, or any of the other meteorological manifestations capable of messing up the best of plans.
Still, while a few Malibuites may be grousing that their ho-ho-ho is taking a beating from the series of rainstorms that appear to have lined up like martinets to rain on the local holiday parades, one only has to think about what it’s like in other parts of the country, and even if that’s where one is headed for the holidays, decide that some much needed local precipitation isn’t so bad, after all.
And rain it will. Sunday was officially the first day of winter, and it came to a close with light drizzle that started about 11 p.m. By 4 a.m. Monday morning, the showers turned into steady downpour, not of the intensity of last week’s gullywasher, but the kind of soaking that leads one to imagine outdoor plant and animal life expressing its appreciation.
The rain ceased Monday morning, then picked up again Tuesday evening and made repeat appearances throughout the week with a little more gusto, but still not intense enough to cause major catastrophes, even as it limited holiday wardrobe options and required extra protection for potluck offerings in transit.
Of course, the relatives that were supposed to be on their way to Malibu from parts of the world assaulted by powerful winter snowstorms might still be at their starting point, but few holiday seasons are immune to that.
Then there’s the need to climb ladders to unclog plugged rain gutters and patch the roof leaks that only choose special occasions to manifest themselves.
Pacific Coast Highway and local canyon roads remained slick but no serious accidents were reported as the Malibu Surfside News went to press.
This week, reports from the National Weather Service indicate it is not anticipating snow anywhere in the Santa Monica Mountains, let alone on the coast.
A week ago Thursday, after The News was already printed and mailed, a light dusting of snow fell at the highest elevations of the Santa Monicas, in the Ventura County segment of the 90265 zip code, and east. There was nothing comparable in areas closer to the coast.
Snowflakes were spotted at Kanan and Mulholland, as well as at upper Latigo, but little made it to the ground. That didn’t stop some of the mainstream media from reporting “six inches of snow in Malibu,” but they never said where. That “statistic” then was picked up by late night entertainers who used it for the usual array of tasteless and off-target jokes about Malibu.
Daily precipitation amounts were moderate, with one-quarter to three-quarters of an inch of rain for most of Malibu, less than half of last week’s storm, and somewhat more in the west end.
How did the NWS numbers fare? For Tuesday evening, forecasters predicted a 40 percent chance of rain; an 80 percent chance on Wednesday; a 70 percent possibility on Christmas Day; and expected chances of rain to diminish on Friday.