All winter in SoCal we were threatened by meteorologists (fancy for weatherman) with the pending wrath of El Niño and well it has been a very dry (we are in a severe drought in Cali if you haven’t hear) and actually very warm winter. Don’t tell the rest of the country, they will want to move here and truly I can’t handle any more traffic on the 405 freeway.

Without getting all scientific, this is a shoe blog after all. I found out El Niño or its full Christian name El Niño Southern Oscillation (or its call sign ENSO) simply means there is a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central equatorial Pacific region and then moves across the ocean affecting weather patterns.  Kind of like when unsavory types move in next door – there goes the neighborhood. And El Niño has a rival La Niña which is the same thing but a cool phase rather than warm. Think of them as Loki and Thor, the Bloods and the Crips, the Montague’s and Capulet’s, peanut butter and jelly, you get the idea. The ENSO cycle of both El Niño and La Niña causes global changes of both temperatures and rainfall. Doesn’t always mean there will be more rain, just a change in overall weather patterns.

So in SoCal we were dry and hot this time around, and the rest of the country had a very different experience this winter. Sorry about that. But we are in a severe drought in Cali. You have too much rain and we don’t get enough, Sounds like Goldilocks. Its kind of like taking mushrooms (from what I hear) different for every one.  But the weather changes can be devastating, affecting the agricultural industry and increasing epidemic diseases all over the world. So maybe the Bloods and Crips might be the best analogy. When they pass through town maybe nothing will happen, but if it does, most likely its not going to improve the neighborhood.

Whew, glad we now understand all that. But more importantly, what shoes to wear in the rain? Well it depends on if its light rain (mostly in SoCal) or heavy rain. Light rain you can still wear leather that has been treated, just make sure your shoes don’t have a leather sole, which can be slippery. Plastic is always slippery in the rain, this is when you want rubber soles. If you have worn flip- flips in the rain you know a fall is waiting to happen. If there is a lot of heavy rain in your part of the world invest in rain boots. Not the most glamorous, but they do come in a whole bunch of bright fun colors (to make up for the gloomy weather) so go nuts, lime green goes with everything. Whatever you do, don’t wear suede. Suede is persnickety. No moisture ever, not rain, not humidity. Those infamous blue suede shoes only can come out to play in perfect weather conditions.

And if you live in Southern California, you don’t need to worry about what shoes to wear, if it’s raining we just stay home.

Stay dry everyone.

Laura