Wednesday, I got a lovely and sweet surprise. Ken, the Cal Trans engineer in charge of the Rocky Creek project, sent me a lovely bouquet of flowers. He didn’t use a flower shop in town, he used Big Sur’s own flower lady, Kate Healy. Isn’t this a great community?
Okay, I think I’m finished complaining about the cold.
This article by BBC News (which I often prefer to our own):
“The coldest place on Earth has been measured by satellite to be a bitter minus 93.2 Celsius (-135.8F). As one might expect, it is in the heart of Antarctica, and was recorded on 10 August, 2010.
The previous record low of minus 89.2C was also measured in Antarctica. This occurred at the Russian Vostok base on 21 July, 1983.
‘These very low temperatures are hard to imagine, I know,” said Ted Scambos from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. ‘The way I like to put it is that it’s almost as cold below freezing as boiling water is above freezing. The new low is a good 50 degrees colder than temperatures in Alaska or Siberia, and about 30 degrees colder than the summit of Greenland.
‘It makes the cold snap being experienced in some places in North America right now seem very tame by comparison,” he told BBC News.”
Overview (from NOAA)
Another round of cold temperatures are expected for Monday Night into Tuesday Morning. Lows will drop to the upper teen to 20s for inland locations with most coastal areas in the upper 20s to mid 30s.
TIMING
10 PM tonight until 9 AM Tuesday Morning.
LOCATIONS
All locations except for the city of San Francisco.
IMPACTS
*Hazards:
Freeze warning in effect.
*Impact 1 (most significant) :
High confidence for another round of cold temperatures.
Increased risk for hypothermia due to freezing temperatures for those living outdoors, including animals.
Sensitive plants can be damaged or killed if left unprotected
*Impact 2 (if necessary):
Freezing conditions will lead to areas of slick roads.
Noon update – yay! Finally got water and having my first cup of coffee, as well as a hot bath! Tonight, before I go to bed, I will fill up the tub with water, fill the dog bowl inside, fill the tea pot with water for coffee, and let a faucet drip all night long. How many gallons of precious water will that take?
It has regularly been down in the mid-twentys at night, and last night, with the wind chill factor, it was 12! The dog water dish is frozen solid – 3-4″ worth! My pipes are frozen, so no water for the dogs or for my coffee this am. I am hoping they did not burst – I have all copper – and will thaw out this am to bring me water again. It was 49 degrees inside, when I built the fire on top of last night’s coals. I hope you all are staying warmer than I am!
It was 10:30 at night. I turned off the TV in preparation for bed, and heard some unusual sounds. I looked at the windows – nothing. I got up and l looked out the front door – rain. I checked my weather station – 38 degrees with wind chill down to 33. Inside, I let the fire die down, as it was over 80.
All together, I got .44″ of the life-source, but no snow. Winds got up to 42 mph. At 9:30 am, it is 33 outside, wind chill bringing it down to 27. Blue skies peek through the clouds. The road is muddy and slick, and trees are probably down due to the winds. I have our yearly ladies holiday luncheon, but with road conditions, doesn’t look like I’ll risk it.
FXUS66 KMTR 062239
AFDMTR
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
239 PM PST FRI DEC 6 2013
.DISCUSSION…AS OF 02:30 PM PST FRIDAY…
HIGH CLOUDS ARE STREAMING INTO THE AREA AHEAD OF A SHORTWAVE
CURRENTLY CENTERED OFF THE OREGON COAST. PRECIPITATION IS STILL
MOSTLY CONFINED TO FAR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA HOWEVER SNOW IS
CURRENTLY FALLING IN MENDOCINO COUNTY WHERE COLD AIR IS TRAPPED.
RAIN IS FORECAST TO BEGIN ACROSS THE NORTH BAY LATER THIS
AFTERNOON AND SPREAD ACROSS THE REST OF THE AREA OVERNIGHT.
RAINFALL ACCUMULATION WILL RANGE FROM A TENTH TO A QUARTER OF AN
INCH AROUND THE URBAN BAY AREA WITH AROUND A HALF INCH AT HIGHER
ELEVATIONS.
SNOW LEVELS WILL INITIALLY BE AROUND 2500 TO 3000 FEET ACROSS
MOST OF THE AREA AS THE PRECIPITATION BEGINS…DROPPING TO AS LOW
AS 2000 FEET AFTER THE FRONT PASSES. SNOW ACCUMULATION OF TWO TO
FOUR INCHES IS POSSIBLE ABOVE 2500 FEET. SNOW LEVELS ARE SLIGHTLY
LOWER OVER THE NORTH BAY HOWEVER ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE
LIGHT. MODELS ARE INDICATING SHOWERS WILL LINGER OVER MONTEREY AND
SAN BENITO COUNTIES INTO MID SUNDAY MORNING WHEN COLDER AIR
ARRIVES WHICH COULD INCREASE ACCUMULATIONS UP TO AROUND SIX
INCHES OF SNOW. TRAVEL IN AREAS WITH SNOW OR RAIN SNOW MIX COULD
BECOME DIFFICULT.
OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WILL BE MUCH WARMER THAN THOSE
OF THE PAST FEW NIGHTS. AS THE SKIES CLEAR IN THE NORTH BAY BEFORE
SUNRISE SATURDAY MORNING HOWEVER TEMPERATURES COULD END UP
PLUMMETING. HAVE GONE WITH A MIDDLE SOLUTION OF SOME COOLING OVER
SONOMA AND NAPA BUT IT COULD END UP BEING EVEN COLDER IN ISOLATED
VALLEYS IF THE CLOUDS ARE FAST TO CLEAR AND WINDS REMAIN LIGHT.
VERY COLD AIR WILL RETURN POST FRONT LEADING TO AT LEAST TWO MORE
MORNINGS BELOW FREEZING IN MANY AREAS. FREEZE WARNING HAS BEEN
ISSUED FOR MOST OF THE AREA FOR SUNDAY MORNING. TEMPERATURES
SLOWLY REBOUND AROUND THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK AS A RIDGE BUILDS
ACROSS THE WEST. IT IS QUICK TO PROGRESS INLAND HOWEVER LEADING TO
A CHANCE OF RAIN LATE IN THE WEEK AS A LONG WAVE TROUGH MOVES
&&
.MTR WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES…
.TNGT…WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY…SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS
…EAST BAY HILLS…AND SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS
UPDATE – from NOAA:
IN ADDITION…LOWER ELEVATION SNOW LEVELS WILL BE PRESENT OVER THE REGION…AROUND THE 3000 FOOT RANGE AS THE PRECIPITATION ENTERS THE AREA. SNOW LEVELS ARE FORECAST TO DIP TO BETWEEN 2000 AND 2500 FEET BY EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. THIS IN COMBINATION WITH SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS WILL ALLOW FOR SNOW ACCUMULATION OF A COUPLE OF INCHES OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS OF THE SANTA LUCIA MOUNTAINS MAY EVEN PICK UP 6 INCHES OF SNOW BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE EAST BAY HILLS AND SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS ABOVE 2500 FEET AND THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF MONTEREY AND SAN BENITO COUNTIES ABOVE 2000 FEET. CONFIDENCE IS HIGH THAT MONTEREY AND SAN BENITO COUNTIES WILL RECEIVE SNOWFALL…BUT ONLY MEDIUM TO MEDIUM LOW CONFIDENCE WITH REGARDS TO THE OTHER LOCATIONS…AS THE SHORT TERM MODELS HAVE BEEN INCONSISTENT WITH WHERE THE PRECIPITATION WILL ACTUALLY BE PRESENT.
*****************************************************************************************
Last night it got down to 26 degrees, at 11am, it was only
36 outside, 56, inside. Wanted to put off the fire in my wood
stove, but won’t be able to much longer, I am afraid. Time for the
down comforter, for sure! By noon, the fire raised the inside
temperature to 61! From my SLO Co weather forecaster: A vigorous
1,011 millibar low pressure system will slide through Northern
California on Friday. The associated cold front is forecast to pass
over San Luis Obispo County Friday night into Saturday morning with
rain showers. This storm system is coming from the high latitudes,
and with cold air already in place, snow levels will dip below
2,000 feet by Saturday morning. A dusting of snow is certainly
possible across the higher mountains of San Luis Obispo County.
Total rainfall amounts will range between 0.15 and 0.25 inches or
nearly one inch of snow above 2,000 feet. From NOAA in Monterey
Bay: ANOTHER COLD AND CLEAR MORNING AS UPPER LEVEL NORTHERLY FLOW
DOMINATED THE REGION. TEMPERATURES THIS MORNING FELL INTO THE 20S
INLAND TO THE UPPER 20S TO LOW 30S FOR MANY COASTAL LOCATIONS.
ISOLATED VALLEYS IN NAPA AND SONOMA COUNTIES AS WELL AS SOUTHERN
MONTEREY AND SAN BENITO COUNTIES FELL INTO THE TEENS…WITH MOODY
CANYON IN SOUTHERN SAN BENITO COUNTY ACTUALLY FALLING TO AN
ASTONISHING 9 DEGREES. THESE TEMPERATURES ARE BETWEEN 10 AND 15
DEGREES BELOW NORMAL FOR THE BEGINNING OF DECEMBER. ANOTHER CHILLY
DAY IS IN STORE FOR THE AREA…AS THE COLD AIRMASS IS NOT FORECAST
TO BUDGE MUCH OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURES
WILL LIKELY RANGE FROM UPPER 40S TO LOW 50S…SIMILAR TO THOSE
OBSERVED YESTERDAY. THE MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE TODAY WILL BE THE
POSSIBILITY OF LOW ELEVATION SNOW. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED LATER THIS MORNING FOR MANY
ELEVATIONS ABOVE 1000 FEET FOR THE TIME PERIOD OF LATE FRIDAY INTO
SATURDAY MORNING. PLEASE CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE FORECAST FOR THE
LATEST INFORMATION. … THE BEST BET FOR SNOW IN OUR DISTRICT WILL
BE IN BIG SUR. HIGHER TERRAIN IN THE SANTA LUCIAS SHOULD SEE
SEVERAL INCHES OF ACCUMULATION.
A FREEZE WARNING WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR THE ENTIRE
REGION…EXCEPT THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO…LATE TONIGHT THROUGH
THURSDAY MORNING.
A BIG CHANGE IN THE WEATHER PATTERN IS IN STORE FOR THE END OF THE
WORK WEEK AS ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL TROUGH DIVES SOUTH TOWARD CENTRAL
CA. THIS WILL BRING RAIN TO THE NORTH BAY AS EARLY AS FRIDAY
MORNING WITH RAIN SPREADING SOUTH INTO MONTEREY COUNTY FRIDAY
EVENING. THE GFS…ECMWF…AND NAM ARE ALL IN GOOD AGREEMENT ABOUT
TIMING OF THE RAIN…SO CONFIDENCE IS HIGH THAT THE ENTIRE REGION
WILL SEE SOME FORM OF PRECIPITATION. RAINFALL ACCUMULATION WILL
GENERALLY RANGE FROM A HALF OF AN INCH TO AN INCH THROUGH THE
HIGHER ELEVATIONS TO A TENTH TO A QUARTER INCH THROUGH THE VALLEY
LOCATIONS.
WITH THE COLD AIR ALREADY IN PLACE…SNOW LEVELS ASSOCIATED WITH
THIS STORM WILL START OFF BETWEEN 1500 AND 2500 FEET…DROPPING AS
LOW AS 1000 FEET BY EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. IT IS NOT OUT OF THE
QUESTION THAT A RAIN/SNOW MIX COULD BE POSSIBLE JUST BELOW THE
1000 FOOT MARK. SNOW IS FORECAST TO ACCUMULATE OVER THE HIGHEST
ELEVATIONS THROUGH THE NORTH AND EAST BAY MOUNTAINS…SANTA CRUZ
MOUNTAINS…AND SANTA LUCIAS…WITH AROUND 6 INCHES TOTAL BY MIDDAY
SATURDAY.
Woohoo! This could be fun!
6:30 am – By midnight last night, my weather station only reported .44″. At 3:00 am, I got another one hundredth. It is supposed to continue today, but so far just drizzle, no rain. There is also some indication of possible rain on Thanksgiving. We will see as that event approaches.
Glorious rain! Hope it keeps up all day and night! At 9:40am, I have measured .32″. The current hourly rate is .18″ I and the dogs are all dry and cozy in bed. How is the rain where you are?
BTW, there is a chance of thunderstorms with this system, starting this afternoon.
