What Is Autumn Weather Like in Los Gatos?

What can you expect, weatherwise, for Los Gatos in the fall?  It varies but generally is dry and fairly warm during the days.  Mornings can be chilly but it heats up fairly quickly.  This last week was perhaps a bit unusual, but I'll share with you a bit about the weather here over the last seven days.

This last week, though, we caught the tail end of an Asian hurricane and we got drenched and pelted with strong winds.  After three drought years, no one is complaining: we needed the rain.

The storm caused damage to trees all over and created power outages for many.  Our block in Belwood was mixed - half the homes were out of power for about 48 hours. We were lucky and had power. As usual, though, after a very heavy rain, we had Comcast problems.  Our internet flickered off and on for a couple of days (a challenge for Jim and me since we both work from home and rely heavily on the web).

The temps rose in the days following the storm.  It's not completely abnormal to have an 80 degree day in October, but it is unusual to have a summer like temp with east-coast like humidity. The ground was saturated and as it evaporated, we had several muggy days. 

We got back to the daily walk with Bella through the neighborhood and to Belgatos Park and that's when we learned that so many neighbors were without electricity.  We saw a few trees that were getting extra supports (or should have, as they were now listing badly) but others which seemed just fine.

Many of the smaller plants and bushes fared much better than the larger trees had. To see the blooms along Westhill Drive, you'd never know that a massive storm had passed just 48 hours earlier.

Mike's prickley pear looked just great.

Everyone's got power again and aside from a few downed limbs, the neighborhood is looking back to normal. As usual for fall, Los Gatos is full of people who are jogging, riding bikes, pushing strollers, walking dogs, or just getting out.  Today was into the 70s - a very normal fall temp - and except for a few clouds that have been coming and going, it's again looking like autumn as usual.

Westhill Drive was cordoned off for a block party, too.

This is not surprising: our mild weather makes doing things outdoors be the norm throughout most of the fall.   We enjoy an average of 300 sunny days per year in Silicon Valley, with mild weather being the hallmark.  Rain normally comes from about December until March or April, but even then it's not usually so bad unless we have a once-in-a-decade El Nino year.   Word has it that we might be in for that this year, which would certain end, officially, the drought.  It's supposed to rain again tomorrow.  No one likes water rationing, so we will view it as a gift!

Wildlife and the Los Gatos Foothills

Two weeks ago, I sold a home to a first time homebuyer in the Santa Teresa area.  The property is close to the Santa Teresa Foothills and she asked me, "Do I have to worry about wildlife coming down from the hills?"  I explained that she needed to be aware of it, but not worry about it per se.  In Los Gatos, as in the Santa Teresa area, when you're by the hills there's an increased chance that you might encounter some of the wildlife.   We discussed rattlesnakes, coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, racoons, possum, and of course spiders.

A few days later, during the home inspection, we got to see a black widow spider up close. You can see the photo that my home inspector, Duane Serrano, took by visiting my Valley of Hearts Delight blog by clicking on the link above.

This morning, back in Belwood of Los Gatos, I saw a "first" for our home: a hawk landed on our back fence.  We have seen deer, racoons and possum in the Belwood area, and a lot of birds of course, but never seen a hawk in my own backyard!

Jim & I once lived adjacent to Neary's Lagoon in Santa Cruz (a bird sanctuary), so we have the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds.  I had a look and it appears that this visitor is a Sharp-Shinned Hawk.  They like to be in or near forested areas - in our case, that would mean Belgatos Park and the Sierra Azule range in Los Gatos. (Photo taken with my regular Canon camera, but through our living room window and at quite a distance, so the pic is not as clear as I'd have liked. But you get the idea.)

Living near the foothills in Silicon Valley, we do see wildlife come down to residential areas from time to time. Usually it's something like this, or finding a possum in your fruit tree: not scary in the least, just kind of amazing.  Sometimes, though, it's a mountain lion or something more scary.  In all cases, keep your eyes open - and your camera nearby.

Where In Los Gatos Can This Grad Be Seen?

This looks like the patron saint of Los Gatos High School grads, or maybe it's just a tribute to those who received their diplomas recently at the scenic old high school.

Where is it? The first one to answer correctly in a comment below will receive a $5 gift card to Starbucks and a copy of my book, "Get The Best Deal When Selling Your Home in Silicon Valley".  (Deadline June 25th for entries.)

 

Miner's Lettuce in Belgatos Park

Last week I took a couple of photos (with my treo) of Miner's Lettuce growing in Belgatos Park and I thought the readers here might like to see it.  Apparently the name was given because during the Gold Rush, minters (and other settlers) ate it to stave off scurvey. The native people, the Ohlone, ate it too, of course.  It can be eaten raw, in a salad, or cooked, something like spinach.

Apparently this plant springs up after heavy rains, so it's no surprise that they appeared recently.  Below is a closer view of Miner's Lettuce.

I didn't actually know this was Miner's Lettuce until my husband, Jim, told me. But I thought it was an interesting factoid with a connection to the past and worth sharing.

There's a wealth of information on the web about this plant.  One particularly good site is eNature.com. There you can input your zip code and find out about native plants, insects, wildlife etc. To see what's native to the Los Gatos 95032 zip code, click on this link.

Photo of Los Gatos Hills and Fog This Morning

The morning the skies were perfectly clear and void of clouds over Silicon Valley with one notable exception: just over the town of Los Gatos, a patch of low fog was clinging to the hills, nestled into the smaller valleys and cascading like a waterfall through the pass.

My husband, Jim Handy, snagged this photo from Communications Hill in San Jose at about 7:45am today.  This was a great pic but the sky was very white, so I added some pale blue to the sky (using Picasa and the graduated tint function).  Although the pic below is doctored, it gives a better "feel" for what we saw in Santa Clara County today.

Images of the 2008 Los Gatos Holiday Parade

Please enjoy the 90 second slideshow and additional photographs from yesterday's annual Los Gatos Holiday Parade. Many thanks to my husband, Jim Handy, for providing the many photos. He is a volunteer with the Los Gatos Parks Commission and a few of the images were from the float.

Would you like to see more pics and info? The Los Gatos Observer has a great article with lots of closeup shots and names:  Los Gatos Holds 52nd Parade

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to Everyone!

The Fun Continues at the St. Mary's Country Fair in Los Gatos!

The St. Mary's Country Fair in downtown Los Gatos is off to a fantastic start!  Last night the place was hopping to the tunes of the Joe Sharino Band. Tonight it's the Cheeseballs. Come on back!

Today started off a little cool and slow but picked up by 11 or 11:30 or so. The wind died down and it got to be very comfortable, and folks from all over town were there.

The burrito booth ended up being over-staffed, so I was reassigned to work the skee ball booth from 10am to 1pm today. It was a great spot with a clear view of the stage and I saw loads of people I knew there, including Steve Rice, who's running for town council.

What's really neat about working a game booth, though, is being able to interact with kids. One young family came through and their daughter was just too adorable to not photograph (with their permission). I played with the image because unfortunately the toddler's face was shadowed and the groovy sunglasses she's wearing don't show up too well. I think my favorite of the four is the third one in from the left as it's really focused on her.

The Country Fair continues tonight and tomorrow. A petting zoo and pony rides are available again tomorrow from 11am - 3pm.  Enjoy!