The Drought is Over!
City Council Agrees:
Residents May Return to Their Former Profligate Ways
It's Been "Unusually Wet Weather"
It's Been "Unusually Wet Weather"
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| Howdy Mr Raindrop! We love ya but there's been just too many of you for Turner Construction to cope. Please go away and come again some other day. |
So there's no confusion and for purposes of disclosure, here at the Tattler, we take the phrase "unusually wet weather" to mean 'more rain than average'.
Emery Schools Superintendent John Rubio made it clear; all the rain this season caught the School District by surprise and now the construction work on the ECCL is behind schedule. Had it not been so rainy, the schedule would be fine. The District and their contractor Turner Construction, never planned for the amount of rain we've been getting they say. How could they? It's been ever so rainy around here.
And how much rain is that? Well if one wants to believe the neophytes at the National Weather Service, they'd have to conclude the amount for Emeryville is somewhere between Oakland and Berkeley which has had 94% and 68% of normal rainfall for the season respectively (Emeryville is not tracked specifically). But what do weather "experts" know? Turner Construction and the Emery Unified School District knows much more about the weather than the National Weather Service obviously.
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| Emery Schools Superintendent John Rubio Emeryville has had "unusually wet weather". Don't believe the Weather Service. Trust me. |
The Noise Ordinance is Unreasonable, It Doesn't Work if There's a Lot of Rain
The School District is way behind schedule delivering the ECCL...a year behind specifically, and they've offered many excuses over the last year for why they can't seem to bring this project in on time. So now it's the rain. They didn't plan on rain. And that's why Emeryville residents must put up with loud Saturday work days from now until August.
The Emeryville City Council agreed. They felt Turner's pain. The claim of "unusually wet weather" went unexplained. The Council apparently was supposed to simply take that at face value. And so that's what they did.
Last fall Turner asked for a Noise Ordinance waiver without even giving a reason. Just to increase their profit margins we imagine and again the Council felt Turner's pain. Now at least they're giving a reason to grant the waiver, it's 'because you can't trust the National Weather Service and all their fancy rain gauges'. Who are you going to believe after all, Turner Construction and the Emery Unified School District or wacky scientists (and your own lying eyes)?
The drought is over! So go ahead Emeryville residents! Go ahead and rip out those drought tolerant plantings you put in back when the California Water Resources Control Board was to be believed and go back to Kentucky bluegrass (backyard BBQs will have to wait until the rainy season is finally over). If you've got a running toilet, it can be ignored. Luxuriate in 60 gallon showers! And flush with abandon because apparently Emeryville's had it's own little dark rain cloud hovering over our town all year inundating us.
Below comes from the National Weather Service (if you can believe them):
- City
- Last 24 Hours
- July 1st to Date
- Percent of Norm
- July 1st to date last year
- Percent of Norm
- July 1st to date norm
- Total Season Norm
- Berkeley
- 0.08
- 17.76
- 68
- 13.67
- 52
- 26.24
- 27.62
- Downtown Oakland
- 0.00
- 21.82
- 94
- 17.17
- 74
- 23.26
- 24.29 Source: Weather Underground
