Whens this So Cal weather stop?

[BS Man about Palms]

This time and Oct-Nov are some of the hardest times for me. The Santa Ana type weather, makes nice temps, but my usual 50%+ humidity drops to under 20% and I start getting sunburn, yet its still cool enough at night that the palm roots are slow on the moisture uptake. So the best I can do is spritz my leafs and pray for some partly cloudy days...

[epicure3]

I dunno.

[Tyrone]

This time and Oct-Nov are some of the hardest times for me. The Santa Ana type weather, makes nice temps, but my usual 50%+ humidity drops to under 20% and I start getting sunburn, yet its still cool enough at night that the palm roots are slow on the moisture uptake. So the best I can do is spritz my leafs and pray for some partly cloudy days...

Sounds like my scenario in Oct, Nov.

Have you had a slow start to spring over there? We did too in West Oz. Last Sep (start of our spring) sunk back into winter and it rained every day except for two days that month, which doesn't even happen mid winter, and temps fell back to mid winter temps. I was extremely sick of winter by October.

Best regards

Tyrone

[happ]

This time and Oct-Nov are some of the hardest times for me. The Santa Ana type weather, makes nice temps, but my usual 50%+ humidity drops to under 20% and I start getting sunburn, yet its still cool enough at night that the palm roots are slow on the moisture uptake. So the best I can do is spritz my leafs and pray for some partly cloudy days...

Sounds like my scenario in Oct, Nov.

Have you had a slow start to spring over there? We did too in West Oz. Last Sep (start of our spring) sunk back into winter and it rained every day except for two days that month, which doesn't even happen mid winter, and temps fell back to mid winter temps. I was extremely sick of winter by October.

Best regards

Tyrone

It has been a fairly normal March thus far but as Bill points out a quick warm up [over 90F\ 32.2C in some coastal areas] can cause sunburn on some trees. The dry wind also doesn't help. But tomorrow will be much cooler with onshore flow for a few days. Maybe some coastal clouds also. Yesterday I irrigated for the first time in many weeks.

[PalmGuyWC]

It's been perfect spring weather in Walnut Creek for the past several days with highs in the mid 70's. Today is the first day of the year forcast to reach 80F, and more of the same for the next week. My Oaks are exploding with new foliage and the palms are begining to grow. I'm loving it and finally able to work in the garden. Winter grass and weeds everywhere to pull. Last evening was the first warm enough to eat outside on the patio, cornbeef and cabbage, the St. Pattys thing.

Dick

[MattyB]

I irrigated yesterday for the first time in at least 2 months. Don't worry Bill, the longer the palms are in the ground the more resilient they are to changes in weather, especially the santa anas. You've got the drip irrigation working for you, so that's the key to getting deep roots established.

[BS Man about Palms]

50F and 80% humidity when I left for work this morning...

74F and 64% when I came home...thats what I like....

[epicure3]

Today is a phenomenal day. More humidity yet clear skies and perefect temps. I know the palms want more but, whatever.....

[BS Man about Palms]

I'm with you John. 5-10F more and its hard to beat...Wait. That would be like Hawaii!

[CardiffPalmNut]

BSman - we could always hope, maybe with the "global Warming" will get there. Yes I turned on my irrigation on Saturday (while I was away at the festivities) for the first time since December 20th! yeah. No the water bills will jump me back to the poor house.

[displaced_floridian]

More chilly, wet weather for SoCal next week. Your rainy season isn't over yet! This was on an accuweather blog:

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 12:40 PM

Ken Clark

I have talked already a couple of times about more stormy weather heading for California next week. In previous days, there has been some disagreement in exactly what happens, though every model did produce at least one, if not two, more rain and snow systems. But today, even I, with over 35 years experience in forecasting the West, am amazed at what the models have next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Before then, we have the first rain chance somewhere in the Sunday night/Monday time period. Here, the models still differ some, but all have about the same timing now. The best chance for some rain is in the southern half, or southern third of the state. But this would be the baby before the giant.

By next Tuesday and Wednesday, the GFS, the European, and the UKMET models all forecast a very cold trough digging south out of the Gulf of Alaska, forming a deep closed low off the coast of California later Tuesday, and over the state Wednesday. If this were to happen, a cold front would sweep from north to south with a period of rain and perhaps thunderstorms, followed by numerous showers and convective thunderstorms in the cold air underneath the low Tuesday night and Wednesday. Snow levels would drop very low, even by February standards, if these models are right. Even a low elevations, temperatures in many places could be no better than the 50s Wednesday, as much as 15-20 degrees below normal.

[MattyB]

Sounds good. We need the rain.

[paulgila]

whats this "whens" stuff???

[happ]

I hope it rains right into May! The Metro Water District already announced that water restrictions will remain in effect thru the summer But so long as these storms drop moisture in northern California the better the entire state will be. Lake Oroville is still well under capacity.

It's been cooler than normal due to a persistent trough\ low pressure over the West & why some of these spring storms are managing to reach as far south as the Mexican border. I think given the choice of wet & cool vs dry & warm, I'll take the latter.

[epicure3]

I hope it rains right into May! The Metro Water District already announced that water restrictions will remain in effect thru the summer But so long as these storms drop moisture in northern California the better the entire state will be. Lake Oroville is still well under capacity.

It's been cooler than normal due to a persistent trough\ low pressure over the West & why some of these spring storms are managing to reach as far south as the Mexican border. I think given the choice of wet & cool vs dry & warm, I'll take the latter.

Me too!

[epicure3]

More chilly, wet weather for SoCal next week. Your rainy season isn't over yet! This was on an accuweather blog:

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 12:40 PM

Ken Clark

I have talked already a couple of times about more stormy weather heading for California next week. In previous days, there has been some disagreement in exactly what happens, though every model did produce at least one, if not two, more rain and snow systems. But today, even I, with over 35 years experience in forecasting the West, am amazed at what the models have next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Before then, we have the first rain chance somewhere in the Sunday night/Monday time period. Here, the models still differ some, but all have about the same timing now. The best chance for some rain is in the southern half, or southern third of the state. But this would be the baby before the giant.

By next Tuesday and Wednesday, the GFS, the European, and the UKMET models all forecast a very cold trough digging south out of the Gulf of Alaska, forming a deep closed low off the coast of California later Tuesday, and over the state Wednesday. If this were to happen, a cold front would sweep from north to south with a period of rain and perhaps thunderstorms, followed by numerous showers and convective thunderstorms in the cold air underneath the low Tuesday night and Wednesday. Snow levels would drop very low, even by February standards, if these models are right. Even a low elevations, temperatures in many places could be no better than the 50s Wednesday, as much as 15-20 degrees below normal.

I wouldn't be surprised if this pans out. Nature has a way of balancing out the weather. We'll get some ususually hot, humid weather this summer. I can feel it.

[Tyrone]

I hope you guys get many warm tropical thunderstorms this summer if there are water restrictions in summer. Are they saying a total ban?

Best regards

Tyrone

[gsn]

this is a California weather thread...

WARM, TROPICAL, SUMMER, and THUNDERSTORMS in the same sentence, is not even a remote possibility!

Hopefully the water restrictions won't be to severe!

Edited April 16, 2010 by gsn

[BS Man about Palms]

More rain! More rain!!

[happ]

I hope you guys get many warm tropical thunderstorms this summer if there are water restrictions in summer. Are they saying a total ban?

Best regards

Tyrone

The tropical influence in SoCal basically rests on the strength of the monsoon when moist humid air flows northward out of the Gulf of California primarily into the desert regions. Last summer's monsoon was pathetic throughout the Southwest. The mountains between the desert & the coast tend to wring out the moisture while the prevailing westerly winds push the hot light air toward Arizona. Clouds & mugginess are generally all that amounts to summer storms. Dying hurricanes can also push humidity into California from the southwest Pacific but cool water temps rob these cyclones of the energy needed to sustain any circulation. Most summer don't receive any rainfall other than a few hundreds of an inch in coastal California but the mountains & deserts can experience occasional thunderstorms. That's why it is so important to get as much rain before the summer pattern takes over.

Tyrone, are you far enough north to get in on any summer rainfall?

[Tyrone]

I hope you guys get many warm tropical thunderstorms this summer if there are water restrictions in summer. Are they saying a total ban?

Best regards

Tyrone

The tropical influence in SoCal basically rests on the strength of the monsoon when moist humid air flows northward out of the Gulf of California primarily into the desert regions. Last summer's monsoon was pathetic throughout the Southwest. The mountains between the desert & the coast tend to wring out the moisture while the prevailing westerly winds push the hot light air toward Arizona. Clouds & mugginess are generally all that amounts to summer storms. Dying hurricanes can also push humidity into California from the southwest Pacific but cool water temps rob these cyclones of the energy needed to sustain any circulation. Most summer don't receive any rainfall other than a few hundreds of an inch in coastal California but the mountains & deserts can experience occasional thunderstorms. That's why it is so important to get as much rain before the summer pattern takes over.

Tyrone, are you far enough north to get in on any summer rainfall?

Not really. Well you can get it occasionally, but you can't bank on it. That ripper storm we had at the end of March was a tropical storm. 35mm of rain in one hour. Hail 60mm across. There are still smashed cars driving around here. The damage bill has gone over 600 million dollars from that one hour of hell. It was lovely and humid though.

Best regards

Tyrone

[Tyrone]

Saw the world news weather report for LA lastnight. 9C-14C. That's our mid July temp (mid winter) that generally only happens once or twice a year in the second and third week of July. Never in spring. That's cold. I hope you guys warm up seriously soon.

Best regards

Tyrone

[epicure3]

Saw the world news weather report for LA lastnight. 9C-14C. That's our mid July temp (mid winter) that generally only happens once or twice a year in the second and third week of July. Never in spring. That's cold. I hope you guys warm up seriously soon.

Best regards

Tyrone

Yes. Yesterday topped out at 63F for me (and only briefly). Right now it is 49F. It is very uncommon to have this weather. It's funny that the NWS calls this a "late season storm". That comment makes no sense and in completely innacurate since winter was over a month ago.

[BS Man about Palms]

We may get some rain next week again too. We've been getting "little rains" once a week for a few weeks now.

Anyway, since its not a lot cooler than what I see on the coast anyway, it doesn't bother me much, I'm happy for the rain. Plus, the ground is still warm/warming. The guys inland though are way off their daily highs.

[MattyB]

I'll take the rain while I can get it. Otherwise my mulch stays dry for 6 months straight.

[happ]

Saw the world news weather report for LA lastnight. 9C-14C. That's our mid July temp (mid winter) that generally only happens once or twice a year in the second and third week of July. Never in spring. That's cold. I hope you guys warm up seriously soon.

Best regards

Tyrone

Yes. Yesterday topped out at 63F for me (and only briefly). Right now it is 49F. It is very uncommon to have this weather. It's funny that the NWS calls this a "late season storm". That comment makes no sense and in completely innacurate since winter was over a month ago.

Yesterday was also only 63F\ 17.2C downtown [62F\ 16.6C at my location] & several locations remained below 60F if cloudy. Many areas recorded well below 50F\ 10C again this morning. These systems are very cold & very low latitudinally but getting any rain this late in April is most welcomed. I think why the NWS refers to these systems as "late season storms" is precisely because the rain season is historically confined to winter & springtime rainfall is so limited. The state reservoirs are still under water capacity but better than last year & continue to fill during this wet spring. http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/reports/DROUGHTSUM

[Cycadcenter]

It's damn cold here in Fallbrook, from my house I can see Mt Palomar and it looks as though the snow from last night is down to about the 3,000 ft level.

Bruce

[epicure3]

Rain or not, I'm over this weather. Quite frankly, it sucks.

[happ]

Here's the last sentence from NWS_LA:

"...THE END OF APRIL IS LOOKING RATHER COOL...WET...AND WINDY".

This weekend will be delightful followed by almost an exact repeat of this week's storm.

[epicure3]

Here's the last sentence from NWS_LA:

"...THE END OF APRIL IS LOOKING RATHER COOL...WET...AND WINDY".

This weekend will be delightful followed by almost an exact repeat of this week's storm.

Somebody picked up San Diego and put it in Seattle.

[pogobob]

We got 1.40'' of rain wed nite at the oceanside nursery and only .30 in san clemente. I say keep it coming

[BS Man about Palms]

Yeah- my "rain gauge trashcan" is saying I got well over an inch or almost 2 from the last 2 storms..

[MattyB]

Bill, I'm coming over there and drilling holes in all of your trashcans!!!

42F this morning. Are you kidding me? Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[happ]

Bob, I noticed some fairly respectable rain totals in San Diego county. I only picked up .20 but already the rain year total thus far is: 22.62.

It was like a cold winter day yesterday. 40's were widespread this morning. Upper 30's reported @ 700AM in Woodland Hills\ Corona\ Temecula\ Poway.

[CardiffPalmNut]

Yeah- my "rain gauge trashcan" is saying I got well over an inch or almost 2 from the last 2 storms..

Bill - you have to get a "Calibrated " trashcan like mine, Cardiff got about 1.6 inches over the last two days, I hope it keeps coming. I haven't had my irrigation on but one day since December, its nice not to have to pay the darn water gods soooo much every other month!

[MattyB]

I'm watching the neighbor watering her roses with a hose right now.

[epicure3]

I'm watching the neighbor watering her roses with a hose right now.

Nice. Welcome to the day after Earth Day.

[BS Man about Palms]

I was surprised I picked up some rain last night. Enough that the street was wet out side at 830am and the trash gauge was about 1/4" I would guess. I also just got a few tiny drops minutes ago. Low wind now but its supposed to pick up?

[epicure3]

It got pretty windy this afternoon by me. Breeze is still up. Comparatively speaking, not a bad day after the showers.

[MattyB]

It was very windy yesterday afternoon and overnight last night. I estimate I got some gusts over 40 MPH. I can tell it's windy because my house starts to make noises and creek. No overturned trees though, I've still got them staked up from this Winter.