The Rainy Season for California officially starts in November. I actually saw at least 4 or 5 days of rain in October. I am no longer in San Diego County. I relocated to the Central Valley and I am still learning what weather is like up here. Weather is a big deal when you are homeless because you spend so much time out in it.
Here in the Central Valley, rain often leads to warmer temps -- at least, so far. I don't know if this will continue to be true as we head into winter. But in San Diego County, rain almost always meant a dramatic drop in temperature for at least 48 hours, regardless of the time of year. Given that temperatures there are mild year round, this meant that any time it rained, we were in danger of suffering hypothermia.
We currently have a better tent than anything we have had before. It is making a big difference on rainy nights. We are no longer getting wet when it rains. It did cost us a lot more than we usually spend on a tent and this fact contributed to some financial duress in October. But, at this point, we are happy we spent the extra money.
When we were in San Diego County, we often had a tent and no bedding for some portion of the summer, a tent and a king sized fitted sheet in spring and fall, and a tent plus a full set of king sized flannel sheets for winter. This works well for three people. The flat sheet goes on the bottom and the fitted sheet goes on top. Flannel will help keep you warm even when it is wet.
Wool bedding or clothing will also help keep you warm when it is wet, but I am allergic to wool. I did accept a wool jacket a couple of times during the rainy season and kept it long enough to not die of hypothermia, then got rid of it as soon as I felt I could survive without it. It made me pretty sick to wear a wool jacket, but it was the lesser evil. Hypothermia can really make you ill or even kill you.
So try to stay warm and dry this rainy season. Or at least warm, even if dry is not possible.
Here in the Central Valley, rain often leads to warmer temps -- at least, so far. I don't know if this will continue to be true as we head into winter. But in San Diego County, rain almost always meant a dramatic drop in temperature for at least 48 hours, regardless of the time of year. Given that temperatures there are mild year round, this meant that any time it rained, we were in danger of suffering hypothermia.
We currently have a better tent than anything we have had before. It is making a big difference on rainy nights. We are no longer getting wet when it rains. It did cost us a lot more than we usually spend on a tent and this fact contributed to some financial duress in October. But, at this point, we are happy we spent the extra money.
When we were in San Diego County, we often had a tent and no bedding for some portion of the summer, a tent and a king sized fitted sheet in spring and fall, and a tent plus a full set of king sized flannel sheets for winter. This works well for three people. The flat sheet goes on the bottom and the fitted sheet goes on top. Flannel will help keep you warm even when it is wet.
Wool bedding or clothing will also help keep you warm when it is wet, but I am allergic to wool. I did accept a wool jacket a couple of times during the rainy season and kept it long enough to not die of hypothermia, then got rid of it as soon as I felt I could survive without it. It made me pretty sick to wear a wool jacket, but it was the lesser evil. Hypothermia can really make you ill or even kill you.
So try to stay warm and dry this rainy season. Or at least warm, even if dry is not possible.