4:18 pm – this just in moments ago from Cal-Trans:
“Roadwork scheduled for tonight, Thursday, Dec. 10 has been canceled due to weather and equipment issues.”
Roadwork is scheduled to begin again Sunday night at 8 pm until 5 am, and will continue on that schedule until 5 am Friday morning.
I forgot to record when the rain stopped again, but it picked up again at approximately 8:30 pm, and is going great guns, and has been for about 20 mins.
6:15 pm – rain has started back up.
3:30 pm – rain has stopped. Received another 1/4 inch in the last 1 and 1/2 hours. Nice.
1:53 pm – I have 1/4 inch of “drizzle” today, and the rain just started up for real, not pouring, but it is rain that can be heard on the roof, and witnessed on the windows, as opposed to the drizzle I have been receiving. Yahoo! Boy, do we need it!
From the ENSO Diagnostic Discussion:
“El Niño strengthened from October to November 2009, as sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies increased across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean….Substantial disagreement remains among the models as to the eventual peak strength of El Niño (Fig. 6). Even at short lead times (e.g. November-December-January), SST forecasts for the Niño-3.4 region range from +0.5 to +2.0oC. At this point, it seems equally likely that El Niño will either strengthen further or remain at moderate strength (3-month Niño-3.4 SST index of +1.0 to +1.4oC) during the next few months. Regardless of the precise peak strength, El Niño is expected to exert a significant influence on the global weather and climate in the coming months.”
NOAA forecast discussion:
DISCUSSION…AS OF 9:00 AM PST THURSDAY…TEMPERATURES MUCH WARMER THIS MORNING COMPARED TO THE LAST THREE MORNINGS (ed – no kidding, almost tropical, comparatively speaking) … A SHORT WAVE TROUGH IS APPROACHING
THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AND MONTEREY BAY AREAS BRINGING US A MODIFIED AIR MASS WITH AMPLE MOISTURE AHEAD OF IT TO PRODUCE LIGHT SHOWERS THIS MORNING…. THIS IMPULSE WILL GENERATE MORE SHOWERS WITH ONLY A FEW TENTHS OF AN INCH AT MOST EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT. MOIST ZONAL FLOW TO FOLLOW ON FRIDAY WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS CONTINUING THROUGH THE DAY.
ON SATURDAY THE MAIN LOW WILL BRING EVEN MORE MOISTURE AND EXCELLENT PVA. THE JET … MAY LEAD TO THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY AFTERNOON. OTHERWISE…LIGHT TO MODERATE RAINFALL IS EXPECTED THROUGH SUNDAY
MORNING.
BTW, it is drizzling this morning, but no substantial rainfall. It is considerably warmer this morning, too, thank goodness!
I knew you were asking yourself that question. I haven’t looked at the thermometer, BUT, I can show you!
This was Monday night:
This was late this afternoon:
The water in the dog’s dish outside had been frozen for three DAYS! The lowest temperature I’ve ever recorded up here, and I don’t remember the year (would have to check all those calendars which are packed away) is 19 degrees, F. The highest has been 117 degrees. A land of extremes. That’s Big Sur.
And here is a great set of photos from the Mt. Wilson Observatory, one taken during the Station Fire, and the other taken yesterday. Firefighterblog put these together for us. Can you say Fire and Ice??
Snow Blankets 2009 California Fire Grounds
Posted using ShareThis
Charlie Hench, Cal-Trans engineer, called this morning and informed me that the drilling one mile north of Ragged Point is going slower than anticipated. Closure will continue from 8 pm – 5 am tonight and Thursday. No drilling will occur Friday and Saturday night, then closures will be reinstated for Sunday, December 13 at 8:00 pm through 5;00 am, and continue on that schedule until Friday, December 18th at 5:00 am.
The Big Sur Chamber of Commerce has asked me to make sure that readers understand ALL businesses in Big Sur continue to remain open, if traveling from the north during closure hours, with the exception of Ragged Point, which will only be accessible from the south. And remember, closures do not happen on Friday or Saturday night.
I send out important information like this via a Big Sur email list I created just for that purpose. If you would like to be included on that list, please send an email to me at kwnovoa@mac.com Another way to receive it directly is to simply sign up for an email subscription to my blog posts. The link to do that is at the bottom of the side panel to the right.
First, a reminder that tonight is the fund raiser for the Gries family at TreeBones Resort. The silent auction and entertainment begin at 6:30 pm, with dinner at 7:00. Dinner alone is $50. An overnight stay for two, with dinner and breakfast is $200. Full information is available at my original post.
Also, don’t forget the reception/dinner at Big Sur State Park Lodge for author Dr. Mark Stromberg tomorrow, Thursday. The details are in my original post.
Lastly, don’t forget that the closure of Highway One, one mile north of Ragged Point continues from 8 pm until 5 pm. This is a HARD closure, and no one will be allowed through. This closure continues through Friday.
And as to weather, well, there was ice on the INSIDE of my bedroom window yesterday morning, the water in the dog dish stayed frozen all day, the water in the hose was completely frozen and could not be turned on. Let’s see what today brings. My total rainfall for this past storm was .6 inches, bringing the season total to 16.6 inches. This equates to 1/2 inch in September, 15.5 inches on October 13th, and this past 6/10 of an inch. The storm coming on Thursday does not appear to be significant, and only a few tenths of an inch are expected. The bigger storm seems poised to hit us on Saturday through Sunday, so stay tuned.
Amazingly, there is much interest in this topic, and it seems so timely in light of the Coppenhagen Global Climate meetings being held and the proposal by our own Regional Water Agency. There was an article in the LA Times today about how Moscow proposes to engage in weather modification (“cloud seeding”) to cut down on the amount of snow it gets, by seeding the clouds OUTSIDE of town, so the snow dumps there, instead. Must make the neighbors happy, huh?
From global to local … I have also posted a link to the Impact Statement filed by the staff of the local water agency regarding their weather modification plans. Seems it is time for all of us to be tuned in, and to educate ourselves. Here are the links:
Here is a chilling quote from that article:
“You shouldn’t overstep the threshold over which the weather would change globally,” Danilian says. “We’re trying to look for that threshold in a very careful way.”
And here is our local impact statement on weather modification:
I am particularly confused by plans to do it on the WEST side of the Santa Lucia Mtns. (an error, I hope) and the “tiggering” events that will cause it to be called off, because some of them are completely dependent on the voodoo we call weather predictions. (To NOAA and Charles Bell, you know I’m kidding, right?) But even NOAA has to admit that the “science” of weather prediction has an “art” component.
Our own local agency is proposing to do what Moscow does – control the weather, and for the same reasons – financial. And I think it fascinating to look to global ramifications when discussing local issues.
When do we learn that Mother Nature understands her processes much better than we ever will? Isn’t our arrogance and greed what got us into this Global Warming mess in the first place? And yet, here we are, doing it again — or should I say still doing it.
On 12/12/09, Tom Hopkins, President of the Ventana Wilderness Alliance, sent this around:
“And this excerpt from the Forest Service Manual:
FSM 2300 – RECREATION, WILDERNESS, AND RELATED RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER 2320 – WILDERNESS MANAGEMENT
2323.45 – Weather Modification Over Wilderness
Do not permit long-term weather modification programs that produce, during any part of successive years, a repeated or prolonged change in the weather directly affecting wilderness areas. See FSM 2323.04 for approvals.
Approve wilderness as a target area for weather modification only when:
1. The proponent can provide scientifically supportable evidence that the activities will not produce permanent, substantial changes in natural conditions.
2. The proposal includes no feature that will visibly alter or otherwise impact the wilderness environment.
3. The proposal includes no feature that is likely to reduce the value of wilderness for recreation, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, or historical use.
Short-term weather modification activities that produce only occasional, incidental, temporary, or transitory changes in the weather with carryover ground effects that last only a few days beyond the actual cloud-seeding period may be permitted.”
Some equipment standing by for the building of the Rain Rocks/Pitkins Curve rock shed and bridge that will proceed over the next four years.
Figured I would share this while we have a short break in the storms. Also, I will provide further information about the proposed cloud seeding here in this post later in the day.
BTW, everything is completely frozen up here. I don’t even want to step outside until some melting has happened for fear of falling flat on my … There was actually ice on the INSIDE of my windows! Brrrr ….
And for tonight’s treat, the “Storm overtakes Sunset” taken and submitted by Barbara Woyt, ending tonight’s storm session.
5:30 pm – the snow began again, and this time, the ground is showing quite a bit of the white stuff! In fact, there is complete dusting at the moment, and with the hard freeze tonight, it could be quite slippery in the am. Woohoo!!
REMINDER: HIGHWAY ONE CLOSED FROM 8 PM TO 5 AM BETWEEN RAGGED POINT AND THE COUNTY LINE. NO ONE WILL GET THROUGH. THIS IS SCHEDULED TO CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY, PER THE LATEST CAL-TRANS NEWS RELEASE!!
2:00 pm – the sun did not last long, at all. Overcast, dark, cloudy, and cold … very cold, and windy … very windy. Received under 3/4 of an inch (around .65) from this storm. Will do final tally and season total just before dark. Now, to cuddle up under the down comforter, with as many dogs as I can and read a good book. Look for me back around dark.
Noon – sun is out! Quite windy and cold, though.
11:00 am – the snow stopped about 15 mins. ago, and never accumulated on the ground.
9:45 snowing, big flakes sometimes, but so far, it is not accumulating on the ground.
9:20 am – snow mixed with the rain. Maybe, just maybe, it will really snow today??
7:30 am – 4/10th of an inch. Will check season total later today. Cannot see Cone Peak for the clouds. Will update as I am moved to do this very cold, very wet day.
6 am – At midnight this morning, significant rain was falling. Now, at 6 am, it is still falling. I have used the flashlight to determine there is no snow immediately surrounding me, but of course, cannot see much in the dark. Will report on Cone Peak when it becomes light. Will also report rain totals for last night upon the lighting of this little section of the globe.
From the 5 am NOAA weather discussion:
THE MOST IMPORTANT WEATHER STORY AT THE MOMENT ARE THE LOW SNOW LEVELS. TEMPERATURES HAVE DROPPED TO
NEAR FREEZING AS LOW AS 1000 FEET IN THE SF BAY AREA AND SOME SNOW HAS BEEN REPORTED LOCALLY DOWN TO NEAR SEA LEVEL IN THE EAST BAY. EXPECT SNOW TO ACCUMULATE ABOVE 500 FEET ACROSS THE SF BAY THROUGH THE MORNING COMMUTE…CAUSING DIFFICULT DRIVING CONDITIONS OVER
HIGHER ELEVATION ROADWAYS…INCLUDING HIGHWAY 17. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON TODAY FOR THE EAST BAY HALLS AND SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS WHERE UP TO 6 INCHES OF SNOW MAY ACCUMULATE BY LATE MORNING. MOST PRECIPITATION HAS ALREADY ENDED IN THE NORTH BAY MOUNTAINS AND THEREFORE LOCATIONS NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE SNOW ADVISORY. FARTHER TO THE SOUTH…A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT
UNTIL 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON FOR ELEVATIONS ABOVE 1000 FEET IN MONTEREY AND SAN BENITO COUNTIES.
On a completely different note, I am starting a new page sometime today on the 4-year long Rain Rocks/Pitkins Curve project, which will be available to the right. I propose to take photographs over the duration of the project, documenting its progress.
This morning I watched as the storm moved in. I was out before 8 am today, as I had many appointments along my day. First met the ex at the school at 8:30 am. It forced me to get on the road down my hill, bringing me scenes such as this one:
I have a number of other photos to upload, but I have tried for hours!! The rain started at 10:00 pm, down here, but has tapered out at 10:40 pm. There were earlier incidences of rain, further north this afternoon, but this is the first down here. I have spent several hours trying to upload the second photograph, and I give up.
It is midnight, the rain is pouring. I am falling asleep, I can only try again in the morning.
6 am. I can upload more, and will post a weather watch shortly.
The two below (if they will upload) were taken from Rocky Point Restaurant, around 3 pm Sunday afternoon. The sunlight on the sea left us with a silvery glow.
Looking for a little warmth and holiday spirit today, this one appealed to me.
