6:30 pm – update – this is what my SLO forecaster has to say about this system: ” The cold front will pass our area between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. with rain. Rain will turn to scattered rain showers along with a chance of thunderstorms on Sunday afternoon through Sunday evening.” Remember, this is for SLO, so the rain should pass through Big Sur several hours earlier, as it is coming down from the north.
3:00 pm – update – drizzle started down here on the South Coast shortly after 2 pm. Not yet a full blown storm, but I was on the coast, checking out Mud Creek, having lunch, and other things, when the drizzle started down there, and it continued all the way up the mountain. Much more consistent with January weather, cold, wet, and windy. This is the January in Big Sur that I have come to know these last 26 years. Sure liked the run of great weather we had though!
Looks like we will get the dust taken care of tonight and tomorrow. From NOAA:
“AN UPPER LOW CENTER CURRENTLY LOCATED DUE WEST OF THE OREGON/CALIFORNIA BORDER IS PROGGED TO MOVE SOUTHEASTWARD INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BY EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. THIS WILL SPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES ACROSS THE DISTRICT BEGINNING LATE TONIGHT IN THE NORTH AND SPREADING ACROSS THE REST OF THE CWA
TOMORROW. RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE NOT FORECAST TO BE TOO HIGH…AND RANGE FROM A HALF TO THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH ACROSS THE HIGHER HILLS…TO A QUARTER INCH OR LESS ELSEWHERE.”
From my vantage point at sea off Cypress Point, I could see a dramatic development of the approaching storm through the day. First, sun, and haze to the west. Then, cirrus and stratus approaching. Dark squall bands next appeared over the horizon and rotated to the south, and north over the mountains. I watched these bands convecting over the mountains, and in doing so, they built into dark, threatening cumulonimbus. Below, a thick “fog” obliterated the mountains…rain. The southerly wind kicked up with sudden gusts. The calm sea transformed into a whitecapped froth, as I fought my way back toward shore.