After years of drought, Mill Valley welcomes rain

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (KTVU) - The return of rain brought out umbrellas and smiles in the North Bay.

"It's great, yes, love the rain," Jordana Lazarevic of Mill Valley told KTVU.

"It's refreshing, clear and cleansing, and the trees are happy!"

Starting to pick up about 6 pm, the Marin storm came in more like a lamb than a lion but persisted through the evening.

The 101 commute was slow and soggy, and will likely be even more sluggish Friday morning.

The weekend will be a bit of a washout.

Still, few complaints.

"Are you kidding, the rain is fantastic!" Jeff Phillips of Mill Valley exclaimed, "because we haven't had enough of it for a long time."

There's the delicious sense of changing seasons, and the drought to consider.

And there are practical matters.

"Well I'd like it to rain hard because I want to see if the roof on my new place is really going to leak or not, it's a test," smiled Phillips. 

Getting ahead of more rain, and potential problems, will keep hardware stores humming.

At Goodman Building Supply in Mill Valley, a customer was hurrying out with a rake, a snake, and gutter scoopers.

"We're already having problems," explained Marco Sanchez of San Rafael, "because there's water leaking all over the place, it's draining into the basement of the house. So we've got to clear those."

Goodman will keep sandbags out front until Spring since its location on Redwood Highway floods when rain accompanies high tide.

Store displays urge customers to get prepared too.

"Boots, ponchos, tarps, " listed salesperson Barbara Kershaw, "plus flashlights and furnace stuff, getting ready for the cold weather. Plus clearing the gutter, it's all rain-related."

The prospect of some wet, gloomy days, had some people anticipating indoor activities, and a slower pace.

"On Saturday, I'm going to carve pumpkins for a friend of mine who's having a party," Francesca Diamont of Mill Valley told KTVU.

"It's unusual to have so much rain, so early, in October, it's great!"