Haven't seen the sun much lately, but it's winter in New England. We usually get 42-53 inches of rain every year in the Boston area. Some years we have been getting less. Snowfall is another story. We are also very dependent on the gradual melting of snow to replenish the aquifers. It's too bad California doesn't get more rain on a steady basis throughout the year. Being in constant drought conditions only wreaks havoc when it does rain. That's why you guys get hammered with mudslides when it does finally rain. It's really an ecosystem that should not have so many people living in it. It can't really support it, no matter how much people want to live there.
We had the same problem in Vermont a few years ago where there was little snowfall one winter, and then no rain all spring and summer. The ground was dry and cracked. When the fall rains came, there were massive mudslides and a lot of destruction. If the ground wasn't so dry it would not have been an issue, but there was no moisture holding it together. It was a weird season because we had plenty of rain in the southeastern part of New England, but because of the movement of the jet stream and the way the weather patterns moved, Vermont was left out of all precipitation for quite a few months. New Hampshire also had no snow. They were able to make some snow at some of the resorts, but snowmobile, cross country skiing, and other winter sports suffered. Obviously, the next summer was a bad year for the farmers and orchards.