"California Storms to be Unrelenting"

[DoomsDave 8,659]

My trusty rain bucket is filled to the brim and overflowing, just from the rain in this storm system.

That's about four times what we had here last year, a measly couple of inches.

We had a real [fecal material] screamer of a lightning storm about an hour ago, complete with hunnic hoofery on the roof and rain down the chimney . . . . Reminds me of Ohio.

[Gtlevine 311]

This storm was unbelievable and i'm glad it is almost over. Cleanup of all the mud and erosion will be tough, but my plants came through ok and I can relax a little. What is strange is how warm this storm has been and frankly, how warm this winter has been. The rest of the country has been in a deep freeze all winter and we in So Cal have had a mild winter. This rain will help out a lot for the upcoming growing season, the soil will have been leached out which is important. The thunderstorms and terrential downpours have reminded me of my youth in Chicago, have not seen this here in a long time.

Gary

[happ 140]

I think we can say that the worse is over. More scattered thunder showers into Friday and maybe even Saturday but the jet stream blast has essentially moved east of California. Still feel we should be prepared for some very chilly nights into the weekend but nothing too extreme it appears. Recorded slightly less than 7 inches this week which is double the normal rainfall for January. No significant erosion issues. Strong winds have definitely done damage to all palms. Will assess situation this weekend.

[BS Man about Palms 2,344]

This storm was unbelievable and i'm glad it is almost over. Cleanup of all the mud and erosion will be tough, but my plants came through ok and I can relax a little. What is strange is how warm this storm has been and frankly, how warm this winter has been. The rest of the country has been in a deep freeze all winter and we in So Cal have had a mild winter.

Gary

Gary. SSHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Don't let winter know it forgot to stop by.....

[MattyB 2,015]

We had no less than 4 severe thunderstorms roll through last night with heavy heavy downpours of rain and hail, and good amounts of lightning. Each of these thunderstorms were accompanied with extremely high wind! The house was vibrating and creeking. I was afraid the windows were gonna break a few times. I went out this morning and it looks like some shingles blew off. I'm bummed about that. I'll have to see how many this weekend and see if I can patch it up. Strangely, I went to check the rain gauge and it only registered a tenth of an inch of rain. I don't see how we didn't get any less than a half of an inch last night. The doggie water bucket was near empty last night and this morning it's full to the brim. But my rain gauge is a small test tube like thingy. Due to my slope creating updrafts with the high winds, the rain blows sideways and even uphill so it can't get into my rain gauge. Weird! I had water blowing down my 'high wind' capped chimney too because it's blowing uphill, up under the flashing. I'm exausted.

[nachocarl 206]

This storm was unbelievable and i'm glad it is almost over. Cleanup of all the mud and erosion will be tough, but my plants came through ok and I can relax a little. What is strange is how warm this storm has been and frankly, how warm this winter has been. The rest of the country has been in a deep freeze all winter and we in So Cal have had a mild winter.

Gary

Gary. SSHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Don't let winter know it forgot to stop by.....

Ah man! I just felt the temp drop 10 degrees outside...

[nachocarl 206]

This storm was unbelievable and i'm glad it is almost over. Cleanup of all the mud and erosion will be tough, but my plants came through ok and I can relax a little. What is strange is how warm this storm has been and frankly, how warm this winter has been. The rest of the country has been in a deep freeze all winter and we in So Cal have had a mild winter.

Gary

Gary. SSHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Don't let winter know it forgot to stop by.....

Ah man! I just felt the temp drop 10 degrees outside...

See! Yahoo weather shows Vista at -20F! Nice going Gary.

Vista Weather

Nearest weather station: Vista, United States

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Current conditions as of 11:53 AM PST

Partly Cloudy

Feels Like:-19 °F

Barometer:29.55 in and steady

Humidity:100 %

Visibility:10 mi

Dewpoint:-20 °F

Wind:SW 15 mph

Sunrise:6:50 AM

Sunset:5:11 PM

-20°High: 55° Low: 41°

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[osideterry 84]

I took this shot along PCH in South Carlsbad this morning on the way to work. I pulled over and was hoping to see a funnel or waterspout drop from it. I got back in the car just as intense wind and rain started pounding.

[SunnyFl 9]

We had no less than 4 severe thunderstorms roll through last night with heavy heavy downpours of rain and hail, and good amounts of lightning. Each of these thunderstorms were accompanied with extremely high wind! The house was vibrating and creeking. I was afraid the windows were gonna break a few times. I went out this morning and it looks like some shingles blew off. I'm bummed about that. I'll have to see how many this weekend and see if I can patch it up. Strangely, I went to check the rain gauge and it only registered a tenth of an inch of rain. I don't see how we didn't get any less than a half of an inch last night. The doggie water bucket was near empty last night and this morning it's full to the brim. But my rain gauge is a small test tube like thingy. Due to my slope creating updrafts with the high winds, the rain blows sideways and even uphill so it can't get into my rain gauge. Weird! I had water blowing down my 'high wind' capped chimney too because it's blowing uphill, up under the flashing. I'm exausted.

That sounds awful - is your house all right? These night storms are weird, cause you can't always see what's going on out there.

And it's really unnerving when the house starts shaking, and the windows could break (only time I experienced that here was during the infamous March 93 storm).

Hope you don't have too much shingle damage and it won't need a big repair job.

[gsn 20]

I took this shot along PCH in South Carlsbad this morning on the way to work. I pulled over and was hoping to see a funnel or waterspout drop from it. I got back in the car just as intense wind and rain started pounding.

With all the wind being discussed, you would think that surf would be cranking(higher)?

Edited January 22, 2010 by gsn

[BigFrond 37]

Bummer, my big bizzie was saturated in the ground and the strong wind pushed it to about 75 degree. I thought this thing was bolted to the ground by its roots. This was the same issue with a couple of prichardias.

[Gonzer 1,664]

Nothin' more than an Oregon mist that missed Oregon and hit California.

[MattyB 2,015]

I took this shot along PCH in South Carlsbad this morning on the way to work. I pulled over and was hoping to see a funnel or waterspout drop from it. I got back in the car just as intense wind and rain started pounding.

With all the wind being discussed, you would think that surf would be cranking(higher)?

I thought the same thing too. I cant tell if the waves are really just small or that Terry is on PCH and those waves are a hundred yards away. If you put a person out there would they be a speck or what? The waves are supposed to be 15 feet right now and building still. What did it look like in person Terry? Maybe the storm swell is gone. Maybe it was in between sets.

Here's the surf report:

"In SoCal, well-exposed west facing breaks are looking at sets running DOH with pluses at standouts. Direct south facing breaks are looking at surf running head high to a couple feet overhead"

DOH is Double Over Head. Carlsbad is south west facing so the waves should have 10-12 feet high faces.

[CromulentKevin 3]

Just experienced heavy pea sized hail here in Temecula. Looks like it snowed here, though I imagine it will all melt within 10 minutes. Weirder than this is that areas that aren't draining in my yard have decided to become bright red / blood color. I have no idea why. . .any theories? Iron? My roof tiles are red so maybe somehow the runoff has caused red coloration to seep into yard? It looks like a horror scene out there! Red rum. . .red rum!

[CromulentKevin 3]

Some pics to confirm the shenanigans

[gsn 20]

Matty,

I'm not really talking about the the swell or the swell height, although that doesn't look very high either.

I am referring to wind waves, out past the breakwater,WHITECAPS on the face of those waves out beyond the actual waves breaking at the beach. Here on the east coast, the ocean waves, out past the break water, would look like a giant washing machine(churning, whitecapping, waves hitting waves from every direction) with heavy winds!

Edited January 22, 2010 by gsn

[BS Man about Palms 2,344]

I was driving north on the 101 yesterday in the afternoon north of Del Mar and the waves were very large in the restaraunt area, I almost took a picture. I would think they were 8-10' tall easy. It was foamy everywhere, but the weird thing I noticed is that I turned to look south and they were barely noticeable. Not sure if it was an optical illusion, the angle, or I just saw an area with no breaks, but it was more impressive driving/looking north.

[osideterry 84]

I took this shot along PCH in South Carlsbad this morning on the way to work. I pulled over and was hoping to see a funnel or waterspout drop from it. I got back in the car just as intense wind and rain started pounding.

With all the wind being discussed, you would think that surf would be cranking(higher)?

I thought the same thing too. I cant tell if the waves are really just small or that Terry is on PCH and those waves are a hundred yards away. If you put a person out there would they be a speck or what? The waves are supposed to be 15 feet right now and building still. What did it look like in person Terry? Maybe the storm swell is gone. Maybe it was in between sets.

Here's the surf report:

"In SoCal, well-exposed west facing breaks are looking at sets running DOH with pluses at standouts. Direct south facing breaks are looking at surf running head high to a couple feet overhead"

DOH is Double Over Head. Carlsbad is south west facing so the waves should have 10-12 feet high faces.

I was on an overlook, maybe 20-25 ft up and using a 28mm focal length, which makes everything look smaller. That said, the waves were not big, nothing compared to what I've been seeing in Cardiff every day this week.

[epicure3 91]

This week has been good for California if you can look beyond the usual media drivel. It will end our drought if we have a second series in the coming weeks which will make this one look minor. The only reason any of this is newsworthy is the fact that greedy developers build homes where they shouldn't and arsonists burn everything every summer!

I agree with you that this is good for SoCal. Some much needed water which has been long overdue.

True. However, there is only so much water that soil can absorb. Doesn't matter what type of soil it is. The rest just runs off and, at that point, the rain becomes useless for homeowners. Very good for the reservoirs, however.

[Urban Rainforest 157]

I spent the night at the resort in Del Mar last night and the winds and rains were intense! The wind and thunder woke me up a few times and the wind was making a very loud and eerie whistling sound. It rained there off and on all day Fri. as well. Yesterday I saw something I have never seen before. The wind switched out of the south and instead of the waves breaking towards shore they were breaking straight north . Here in Clmt. at Stevo's accu weather station (bucket and ruler ) we had a very nice 5" for the week!! Other than a few twisted fronds it was all good. BTW, They are already predicting rain next week from Tues. to Thurs.

Stevo

[happ 140]

Over the past 48 hours there has been record low pressure\ low heights for much of California. Today was miserably cold w/ many areas barely above 50F\ 10C. Thankfully the clouds should keep night temps from falling too low. These are horrible conditions for palms & palm lovers.

[Urban Rainforest 157]

I thought the worst was over but we just had an absolute DELUGE! 15 minutes of some of the heaviest rain of the week. I went to the store and on the drive home the streets were rivers .

Stevo

[Dypsisdean 1,108]

Just heard this latest (and last) surge of this nearly week long event is being called the worst Arizona storm in twenty years - several dead.

[epicure3 91]

Just heard this latest (and last) surge of this nearly week long event is being called the worst Arizona storm in twenty years - several dead.

Yikes!! I thought they would have mellowed out by the time they got that far east.

[happ 140]

Beautiful morning w/ snow on the mountaintops [will try to get some photos later]. We are facing a cold clear night but NWS keeps minimums above freezing & night wind should help. Never-the-less, the temps will likely bottom-out to this month's coldest readings. I recorded over 8 inches of rainfall this past week & the drought situation in California & Arizona has improved immensely!

[gsn 20]

Is the storm threat/warning over for California?

[epicure3 91]

Is the storm threat/warning over for California?

Yes. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

[DoomsDave 8,659]

Putting on my cowboy hat, boots, and neck-thingy, and singing:

OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING!

OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!

THe sky's so blue I wanna scream . . . .

[John Case 171]

Clear as a bell this morning; Mt. Diablo (3800 feet) had snow on it 1/3 of the way down (as the crow flies, 10 miles from the house).

I got home and shortly after, tornado warning and hailstones the size of peagravel in my potted palms and on the ground.

Next rain predicted for late Sunday night.

[osideterry 84]

Jan 18-22 storm by the numbers, from a local weather station:

Max Wind Speed - 26.6 mph

Max Wind Gust - 38.0 mph

Min Barometric Pressure - 29.06 in

Total Precipitation - 5.25"

That 29.06 pressure reading occurred Wednesday night at 11pm. It was pouring and blowing hard, and when I stepped out on the deck to check it out I felt strange... or rather it felt strange outside.

Anyone else feel disoriented or odd when experiencing low pressure?

[gsn 20]

Jan 18-22 storm by the numbers, from a local weather station:

Max Wind Speed - 26.6 mph

Max Wind Gust - 38.0 mph

Min Barometric Pressure - 29.06 in

Total Precipitation - 5.25"

That 29.06 pressure reading occurred Wednesday night at 11pm. It was pouring and blowing hard, and when I stepped out on the deck to check it out I felt strange... or rather it felt strange outside.

Anyone else feel disoriented or odd when experiencing low pressure?

Terry,

If these numbers are indicative of most of California,which seems to be the case with the weather stations I have checked also,some a little lower some a little higher,it doesn't seem this storm was all that bad?

You got the rain you needed,without the winds they were predicting,outside of maybe a few isolated weak tornados spawned, which happens on occasion with thunderstorms and fronts,at least here.

Maybe a few higher peak gusts in the mountains and valleys, which seem to alwasys get a little more wind, but seems overall the wind was not as advertised/predicted?

Anyway glad California is still there, and it doesn't seem you got so much rain you slid into the Pacific Ocean!

[PalmGuyWC 1,480]

Jan 18-22 storm by the numbers, from a local weather station:

Max Wind Speed - 26.6 mph

Max Wind Gust - 38.0 mph

Min Barometric Pressure - 29.06 in

Total Precipitation - 5.25"

That 29.06 pressure reading occurred Wednesday night at 11pm. It was pouring and blowing hard, and when I stepped out on the deck to check it out I felt strange... or rather it felt strange outside.

Anyone else feel disoriented or odd when experiencing low pressure?

Terry,

Sorry for a little levity, but I feel disoriented or odd most of the time, with or without low pressure. Also this is a test using an attachment for the first time with the new format. Takes a little getting used to.

[DoomsDave 8,659]

So, more rain's coming?

[PALM MOD 503]

Now that the threat of life and palm threatening weather has passed, I have moved this topic to the Weather Forum.

[DoomsDave 8,659]

Now that the threat of life and palm threatening weather has passed, I have moved this topic to the Weather Forum.

Hmm.

Maybe this past storm is just the beginning salvo of a good rainy season!

Bring it on!

Gonna go outside, scream obscenities and take a long bike ride . . . . .

[PalmGuyWC 1,480]

I know we need the rain, but I don't think I've had a sunny day in 6 weeks, and it's getting old. Everything is saturated and my decks are turning green and the grass is over ankle high, but to wet to mow. Before the storms you guys in S. Calif were having nice warm weather, but it was cool and overcast in N. Calif. I haven't seen over 60F in weeks, and more sprinkles forcast for today. The good new is, I haven't had below freezing in over a month with the cloud cover. Looks like more storms lined up over the Pacific, but not as severe as what we had. My temps. have been running between 40 and 55. Ugg, it just started raining again.

Dick

[epicure3 91]

Last night's rain was pretty minimal. Maybe .10"? Storm predicted long ago for this weekend looks like it's a goner as well. However, next weekend, though far away, looks pretty promising.

[happ 140]

Last night's rain was pretty minimal. Maybe .10"? Storm predicted long ago for this weekend looks like it's a goner as well. However, next weekend, though far away, looks pretty promising.

Same up in LA; only 0.30 but any rain is welcomed. The storm track kept the system offshore for the most part then into Baja. Some meteorologists are looking at another wet pattern starting around Feb 6 w/ a stronger tropical connection.

This link is to an AMS_LA chapter member who chases storms. Some great photos of last week's storm taken from LAX:

http://stormbruiser.com/chase/

[PalmGuyWC 1,480]

The front that hung offshore yesterday most of the day finally passed through the SF Bay Area at dusk. It moved across pretty fast and we got moderate rain for about 30 minutes. Happ, Kevin, do you weather guys have anything more concrete about the storms lined up next week for Calif?

Dick

[DCA_Palm_Fan 485]

Well that last big California storm to come on shore last week, has turned into our second major snowfall here in DC of this winter, and first of 2010. Were under a winter storm warning, 4-6" of snow, and a high temp of 19F today. YUK. At least the snow it something to look at in all this cold. [sarcasm] Thanks California storms! lol. [/scarcasm]