As the Santa Barbara winter approaches and the much anticipated El Niño pours down on our perfect little beach city, we must prepare for something that most Californians don’t have very much experience with: rain. Quarter-inch rain storms are expected to plague the town for the next couple months, and it’s hard to even imagine how the city will survive. Hopefully, this potential flooding will be able to break the dry spell in more ways than one, considering that our plants aren’t the only things around that are pretty thirsty. The prospect of the weather being anything but 70 degrees and sunny is indeed a scary one, so here’s a survival guide to make sure you get through California’s most anticipated rainy season in recent history.

via tumblr.com

1.) Avoid going outside at all costs — it’s dangerous out there. Class will most likely be cancelled anyways. If you do decide to take the risk and go to class you should probably Uber. Better to be safe than sorry.

via priceofwarmclothes.tumblr.com

2.) Any time it rains make sure you take a Snapchat story of the historic event, preferably with you narrating the fact that it’s raining in the background. You should also try to post on Instagram, Twitter, Vine, and Facebook as well (caption suggestion: “Sweater Weather”).

via gurl.com

3.) Throw away any practical driving skills that you’ve ever been taught. It’s raining — you have a right to panic. It perfectly fine to drive 20 miles per hour on the highway, and if it gets too scary and you don’t think you can handle driving in the rain, you can always pull over and wait until it’s sunny again.

noyoureoutoforder.tumblr.com

4.) Don’t compromise your wardrobe on account of the rain. You live in Santa Barbara — shorts and flip-flops are ALWAYS a good idea. However, if you opt out of classic Santa Barbara attire, consider investing in a North Face snow jacket for the handful of days a year it rains since weather under 60 degrees is comparable to arctic climates.

via weheartit.com

5.) Cancel all your plans. You are pretty much obligated to hibernate until the weather is nice again.

via reddit.com

6.) Even though the rain is a burden and a danger to our community, make sure you remember to be thankful for those quarter-inch rain storms because they mean the drought is finally over.