Expected weather thru Christmas

At 3:48 pm, CHP reports rocks in the road at Hurricane Point on Highway One. Of course, this isn’t much, but it *could* be a sign or symptom. I can’t remember the year this slid before, but it cut us off to the north for MONTHS. Anyone remember the year?

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1:00 pm – okay, our turn! I’ve been checking the CHP website regularly, and 90% of the problems – roadway flooding, mud/rock/dirt slides, and traffic hazards – have been in Santa Cruz County this morning. that might change. Since the heavy rain is upon us, keep safe, everyone, particularly if you have to be out and about. Here’s one CHP report I particularly like re Crg 12 and Strawberry Canyon Rd, which is out in Northern Monterey Co, near the Prundale area, I believe.

“12:56 PM 1 [1] HILL COMING DOWN INTO ROAD”

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10:00 am – Santa Cruz is getting HAMMERED!

6:30 am – weather and road condition reports will be provided throughout the day, but to begin with, this report from NWS:

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
417 AM PST SUN DEC 23 2012

.DISCUSSION…AS OF 4:00 AM PST SUNDAY…ANOTHER WEATHER
SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE DISTRICT TODAY. THE LEADING EDGE OF
THE SYSTEM IS BRINGING LIGHT RAIN TO THE NORTH BAY THIS MORNING.
LIGHT RAIN WILL SPREAD OVER THE SFO AND MRY BAY [then picking up this afternoon] …. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE 1 TO 2 INCHES ACROSS THE AREA WITH LOCALLY 2 TO 4 INCHES IN THE HILLS.

RAIN WILL END TONIGHT IN THE NORTH AND EARLY MONDAY MORNING IN
THE SOUTH. DRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED MONDAY. A FAST-MOVING FRONTAL
SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO BRING RAIN TO THE NORTH BAY TUESDAY
AFTERNOON SPREADING INTO THE REST OF THE DISTRICT TUESDAY NIGHT.
THE MAIN IMPACT OF THIS STORM WILL BE NORTH OF THE CWA SO RAINFALL
AMOUNTS WILL BE MUCH LESS THAN THE CURRENT SYSTEM AFFECTING US.

THE EXTENDED FORECAST HAS A HIGH DEGREE OF UNCERTAINTY AS WE MAY BE
DEALING WITH A CUTOFF LOW.

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Weather Report, 12/22/12

11:32 AM – highway 1 [1] MUD SLIDE AND BOULDER 1125 SB LANE ONLY
This is at Highway One, southbound at the intersection with Carmel Valley Rd. man, I’ve never seen a slide here in all my 28 years!

10:00 am – Okay, we’ve got weather, boys and girls, and we are going to HAVE weather, unsettled weather up until Xmas.

Here is a NEXRAD shot from early this am:

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And here are the 24 hour rain totals from 6 am (when I GLANCED at my rain gauge at first light, I think it was around 1 and 1/2 inches, since yesterday afternoon)

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Here is another NEXRAD shot from later this am (note the time in PST is on the top left)

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And here is the most recently tweeted shot from NWS-Monterey. It shows a band of lightning and strong winds coming through Carmel:

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It’s Hailing!

2:30 pm – It started hailing here about 2:00 and it has continued for almost 1/2 an hour and continues. The sun is shining. It is significant. Pics to follow, a bit at a time because 1. I am still taking them, and 2. The Internet has become persnickety. There are sparkles of mother natures diamonds everywhere! At 3:00 pm, the hail continues, and I continue to try to add photos as I can. Still hailing 1 and 1/4 hours later. I’ve never seen it hail this much for this long up here!

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How cold is it?

Up here, at 10:00am, it is 33 degrees. No snow yet, but I’m watching. I have a USFS announcement to post on that page, photos of the fuel mitigation project to post on that page, and a review of Big Sur’s newest radio station to post, but sluggish or non-existent Internet has made it all impossible, for now. If any of the information were critical, I would drive somewhere to get them posted, as I would with road closures or fires, but baby it is COLD outside. I’m not going anywhere, right now! UPDATE – USFS press release up on its page and photos up on the Fuel Mitigation page. That leaves only the radio review!

Getting ready for storms

Today was prep day, and I had help – getting wood inside, getting two leaks patched (hopefully), making sure I had enough water – nothing is worse than running low on water when it is raining cats and dogs outside – cooking up a batch of chili, turning a Sat turkey carcass into soup for the duration, making sure as much is secure as I can. My job was to man the kitchen. 😉 An easy job, I must say.

All eyes will be on the weather stories for the rest of the week. Would love to share yours with my readers. Send to kwnovoa@mac.com

Here is the satellite shot, thanks to Dave Allen!

BTW, great moonrise tonight between the clouds. Wish I’d had my camera!

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Batten down the hatches!

Starting Wednesday, and continuing for 5 days, a significant series of storms is progged to hit our area. I am running down to Cambria to stock up on more dog food, gas for the genie to back up the solar system, and wine … Priorities, you know. Tomorrow will be at home prep, bringing in firewood, securing all that I can, as some of theses storms will bring gusty winds, as well.

FWIW, CT was doing some work at Mud Creek, cleaning up the usual mess. This could be interesting. 15″ predicted in the North Bay, 4-8 inches down our way.

Current Radar

Rain started here about 4:50 pm, thus far, it is gentle.

Here is the current radar pic. It isn’t raining where I am, but Big Sur Valley may be getting a few sprinkles.

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Looks like there is a bit more coming.

Upcoming rain

Here are the current weather reports for the next few days:

From SLO:

“This cold front will weaken as it approaches the Central Coast on Wednesday night. Light rain showers will eventually develop late Thursday morning and rainfall amounts should reach about a tenth of an inch.”

From Monterey NOAA:

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA
1048 AM PDT TUE OCT 30 2012

.DISCUSSION…AS OF 10:00 AM PDT TUESDAY…SATELLITE AND SURFACE
OBS INDICATE AREAS OF FOG ACROSS PARTS OF THE CWA THIS MORNING.
MOST SPOTS HAVE GONE ABOVE DENSE FOG LEVELS…SO SIMILAR TO
YESTERDAY WILL JUST GO WITH A SHORT TERM FORECAST (SFONOWMTR) TO
HANDLE THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. SATELLITE ALSO SHOWS A FAIR
NUMBER OF CLOUDS ALONG THE COAST AND WITH THE WESTERLY GRADIENT
FORECAST TO APPROACH 2 MB…GOOD CHANCE WE WILL HAVE SOME CLOUDS
REMAINING THROUGH THE DAY NEAR THE COAST. SOME INLAND SPOTS MAY
ONLY HAVE LIMITED BREAKS BY THIS AFTERNOON AS HIGH CLOUDS MOVE
ACROSS OUR AREA IN ADVANCE OF A STORM SYSTEM OUT OVER THE PACIFIC.
LOTS OF 60S AT THE COAST TODAY WITH 70S INLAND.

MAIN FORECAST ISSUE REMAINS THE PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM THAT WILL
MOVE THROUGH OUR AREA WEDNESDAY EVENING INTO THURSDAY MORNING. 12Z
GUIDANCE COMING IN NOW BRINGS RAIN INTO SF BAY AREA WEDNESDAY
EVENING. OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF ACTIVITIES ARE PLANNED FOR THAT TIME
PERIOD…SO WILL TAKE A VERY CLOSE LOOK AT ALL OPERATIONAL AND
ENSEMBLES FOR THE AFTERNOON PACKAGE. ONE GOOD ITEM IS 925/850 MB
WINDS ARE NOT AS STRONG WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE WITH THE 20-PLUS
KT EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER THE NORTH BAY.

And it is raining, again!

Yesterday, I ended the day with .40 of an inch, and today, around 4 o’clock, it started up again. Dogs and cats are inside, we are settled down for the night, and hoping I have enough battery power left in my solar system to run a light and a tv, later, when the one signal from Bakersfield starts coming in, again – usually around 7 pm or so. I have had so much sun all the time since I got my system in late spring, I have no idea how long the system will last with no sun. I got none today, but yesterday, it came in and out, so I haven’t a clue … Nor do I know how to read my fancy-smancy system to know how much battery power I have left, so will just be judicious in my use of power tonight. That’s now on my list of things to learn – my system, and how to read it!

I missed the sound of a gentle rain on my roof – the sweaters and cuddling under the down – the sound of a fire crackling and spitting at me. I have missed the smell of wet earth, and the silence that lies under the sound of rain. I have missed the sounds and smells of fall and winter, and the slower, quieter pace that comes with the shortness of days. It is good to have it back.

BTW, bigsurdeb notified me there was an error on the viaduct project website, of which I then notified Cal Trans. Hopefully, it has been corrected, but the current overnight closures are still scheduled to begin Sunday, October 14th at 9 pm.

So, how hot is it?

It may be October 2nd, but we have been reaching record temperatures, every where … The coast is no longer my refuge. It hit 102 at Ventana Restaurant, yesterday, and 95 in the valley, at the State Park. It was over 105 up here, although I spent the day on the Peninsula, running errands. It was about the same today, although I was in Cayucos and Cambria, where it was also hot. I read that it is to cool down considerably tomorrow and the rest of the week. I would settle for it cooling down at night!

So, how hot has it been where you are?