October 28-November 3, 2024: a total of 0.31" of precip during the past 7 days, including about 10 minutes of pea-sized hail (at about 2:15 PM) during a thunder-lightening-rain storm mid-afternoon on Mov. 2. Five mornings this past week with measurable rain in the gage as a series of storm fronts have moved eastward or southeastward from Oregon/Washington through Idaho. Windy at times. Cool during days and overnight. Snow above about 5,000 ft elev. in many    foothills and mountain areas. This is the first rainy series of days since June. Not a large amount of rainfall but enough to wet the ground under tree canopies (and wash a summer and fall's accumulation of dust, pollen, and fine wildland fire ash from the tree leaves). Soil has not frozen, although there have been a few mornings with light frost in the yard. Oaks are still dropping a lot of acorns--not a mast year but a heavier load of acorns than many years. Some trees and shrubs-- including ash, linden, locust, ginko, ornamental plum, and some maples-- have lost all their leaves. Chestnut and a few maples have colored leaves waiting to drop. Apple and oak a many other tree varieties still have dark green leaves. Most garden plants are shutting down. Mums have been blooming. Birds and other animals are hungry, eating a lot of food, and gathering in groups for migration or winter survival. Flow in rivers and streams are low. Hopefully some amount of precip moisture is sinking in to baked soils caused by hundreds of thousands of acres of wildland fires this summer and fall.