While visitors lulled by our warm January days relax in the seemingly endless days of winter sunshine, locals stock up on firewood, food, flashlight batteries and other incidentals of survival.

They know seasonal averages mean little in the Santa Ynez Valley where winter is a most unpredictable season. Swinging between drought and deluge, with powerful snow and windstorms mixed in for good measure, winter is seldom boring.

Sometimes our winters are controlled by El Niño, other times&emdash;often the wettest years&emdash;involve the "Pineapple Express," when northern Pacific storms pull in a sub-tropical jet stream, and with other conditions exactly right, (i.e. the Perfect Storm), we're deluged with rainfall.

Some say the "Alaskan Express" brings our snowstorms. Back in 1949, One of those frigid storms brought snow all the way into downtown Santa Barbara, covering palm trees on east beach with snow.

Winter is nice. The sky is clearer, the mountains feel closer. Cloud formations are at their best then and can be great fun to watch as they sail across the sky.

Although the Valley's typical winter weather is "unpredictable" (except during drought when nothing much happens but day after day of sunshine), it's also the finest time of the year to enjoy our incredibly beautiful natural surroundings. And keep an eye open for January wildflowers.