Moldy Fruit

MOLDY FRUIT: Hundreds of thousands of strawberries were ruined
this week after an unusually late rainstorm rolled through Santa
Barbara County last weekend. The rainfall was not remarkably
abundant – just over an inch-and-a-half fell in the valley, while
downtown Santa Barbara absorbed just over an inch. But it was the
untimely nature of the storm that caused the damage. The annual
strawberry crop was in the height of its harvest season when the
rain began to fall, destroying all of the fruit already showing
color. The funky low-pressure system responsible for the berry
carnage was not a complete anomaly, as the Santa Barbara area
averages about half an inch of rain every May.