Hey yo, shipmates! We’re coming up for air this afternoon after rocking around in a substantial April storm for a day or two, and the world is feeling quite soaked and resplendent. What better way, then, to celebrate the further redemption of our current “water year” than with a deep dive into the mythic lagoon of local events that I’ve assembled for you this week? You’ll find treasures like:

Before we get swept into the depths of our local calendar, though, I must remind you that there are still many residents (and faraway fans) of Healdsburg who don’t even know this newsletter exists yet. Sad, right? But this can be remedied! Just send all your people this link to subscribe, so they can get on board. (Or just forward them this email, and they can click the link themselves.) Cause the more tuned in we become as a community, the more we thrive. 📡

So we just got another inch or two of rain under our belts for the season, thanks to this most recent 36-hour storm, according to local data from the National Weather Service — and we could get a tad more sky water today and tomorrow. Which is great news for Northern California’s wildfire risk and water supply and endangered snowpack! (Any lingering storm clouds overhead tonight might make it tough to catch the peak of this week’s Lyrid meteor shower, though.) Looking ahead, our region should dry out again over the coming week, but the weather is still supposed to stay relatively cool and mild through end of April. Here’s the official NWS forecast for Healdsburg this week:

Also, FYI — this may be hard to believe, now that everything’s so drenched, but Cal Fire reported battling a 3-acre wildfire last Thursday afternoon off Maacama Ridge Road in the hills east of Healdsburg and Geyserville, on the same day that another scary 1-acre fire burned near the Fountaingrove neighborhood of Santa Rosa (not far from the scar of 2017’s Tubbs FIre). So consider this your reminder to stay vigilant once things dry out again. And if you want more info about what we can expect this year, weather- and wildfire-wise, California State Senator Mike McGuire — a lifelong Healdsburg resident — had lots to say on the topic in a town hall he hosted last Wednesday about wildfire preparedness and extreme weather trends.

As the Lake County Record-Bee wrote in a town-hall recap: “McGuire said that the state’s efforts to combat wildfires have made great strides, but noted that they will be put through their paces in the coming months as this year ‘is anticipated to be the worst El Niño in 140 years,’ potentially resulting in thunderstorms and other dramatic and unpredictable weather conditions that might exacerbate wildfire risk. ‘Here’s the reality: Wildfire season in California no longer takes the season off. It is year-round, and communities all across our state have felt the devastating impacts of wildfires firsthand,’ McGuire said. ‘But here is the good news. California, our counties, our cities, are stepping up like never before in wildfire response and prevention.’” Watch the full convo below!