Posted on 01/03/2008 4:33:03 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Californians braced Thursday for back-to-back weekend storms that could bring more than a foot of rain to mudslide-prone canyons denuded by the fall wildfires, dump up to 10 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada and buffet the state with hurricane-force winds.
The first in a trio of storms began with sprinkles along Northern California coast, but the heaviest precipitation - and possibly the most rain Southern California has seen in three years - was expected Friday night and Saturday.
Forecasters issued a rare blizzard warning for the Sierra Nevada, with up to 10 feet of snow expected in some areas above the 5,000-foot level, and predicted 30-foot coastal swells by Saturday.
Winds of 75 mph to 80 mph could hit the San Francisco area by Friday, with hurricane-force gusts pummeling communities all along the northern coast, forecasters said.
"If you're not in the Sierras by this evening, don't go. It's a life-and-death situation," said Ken Clark, a senior meteorologist at Accuweather.com. "It's going to be an all-out blizzard."
In Southern California, the winds were expected to be less severe, but homeowners struggling to rebuild after October's wildfires braced for torrential rain that could bring flash floods and mudslides.
"You're going to have roads getting flooded, you're going to have water channels filling up. But in the burned areas, this could be disastrous," said Clark.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that officials will activate state emergency operations centers in Los Alamitos and Sacramento on Friday and have been coordinating with the California National Guard, the U.S. Coast Guard and local authorities.
Riverside and San Bernardino counties also deployed swift-water rescue teams.
Lowland areas around Los Angeles and Orange County braced for up to 4 inches and mountains in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties could see up to 9 inches of rain.
Some south-facing slopes could get downpours totaling 15 inches, including some areas particularly prone to mudslides after fires, Clark said. Mountains around Malibu could get up to 8 inches of rain, he said, and higher elevations in San Diego County could see 7 inches.
In the Sacramento Valley, power crews prepared for gusts up to 60 mph - the strongest in the area in a decade.
By Thursday afternoon, blustery winds had already forced some Sierra ski resorts to shut down lifts. At Alpine Meadows, four of 13 lifts were closed, said spokeswoman Rachel Woods.
Nevertheless, ski resort operators welcomed the storm.
"This kind of snow is not only great for skiing, but also ensures we're going to have enough snow for the rest of the season," said Rachel Woods, spokeswoman for Lake Tahoe resorts Homewood and Alpine Meadows.
In Southern California, wind gusts between 60 mph and 80 mph in the mountains and 20 mph to 40 mph in the lowlands were expected along with rain, Clark said.
In the canyons in Orange County, where a 28,000-acre fire burned 15 homes just months ago, winding roads were periodically blocked Thursday with work crews who cleared debris from culverts, stacked hay bales and gravel-filled bags and installed concrete barriers and plastic tarps at the base of hillsides.
The U.S. Forest Service used airplanes and a helicopter to spread "hydro-mulch" - a mixture of wood pulp and a gluey substance - on about 18 percent of the area burned in the Santiago Fire to keep soil in place, said spokesman Tom Lavagnino.
Canyon resident Steve Enochs, 52, said he put 80 hay bales around his backyard to keep water away from his home, which sits directly beneath a towering canyon wall that burned last fall.
"I'm worried. See that hill up there? This whole canyon's burned and there's a huge watershed up this canyon that's all burned too," he said. "It's a pretty dangerous threat."
Neighbor Bill LaBar, 45, seemed less concerned, but had still piled 1,600 sand bags and 20 hay bales around his property. He packed up a motorhome so his wife and dog could evacuate in case of flooding, but LaBar said he planned to stay.
"You take it with a grain of salt," he said. "My house has been here since 1928. Lots of stuff has happened since 1928 and it's still here, so the odds are in our favor, one way or another."
In Malibu, where a November fire charred 4,000 acres and destroyed 50 homes, crews placed tarps and sandbags.
The storms headed toward California during a year that has turned out to be the wettest in some time.
Rain levels in downtown Los Angeles were at 97 percent of normal this week after two years of extreme drought. In San Diego, rainfall had already exceeded normal readings with about six months to go before the end of the rain year, which runs from July 1 to June 30.
The storms also were potentially good news for the state's water supply, much of which comes from the Sierra snowpack. Snow levels along the 400-mile-long range were 60 percent of normal, according to the first of the state's annual snow surveys released Thursday.
That was little consolation to canyon residents, who evacuated for the wildfires and then twice more during heavy rains earlier this winter.
"I've lived here for 18 years and never, ever have we had anything like this happen," said Modjeska Canyon resident Wanda Myers. "I'm just hoping that we'll make it through this time."
"If you're not in the Sierras by this evening, don't go. It's a life-and-death situation," said Ken Clark, a senior meteorologist at Accuweather.com. "It's going to be an all-out blizzard."
State deploys flood teams, emergency personnel for storms
AP State | Thursday, Jan 3 2008
http://www.bakersfield.com/119/story/325214.html
State and federal officials are deploying flood teams and staffing emergency centers as back-to-back storms move into California.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says the state Office of Emergency Services will activate its emergency center on Friday.
Officials are asking residents to avoid driving across flooded roads or into the Sierra, where about 10 feet of snow is predicted for higher elevations.
Forecasters say three major storms will dump rain on the mudslide-prone canyons of Southern California, produce high winds in the Sacramento Valley and create blizzard conditions in the Sierra.
I’m definitely in a stay-put mode. Hate those blizzards. And the old generator is working like a champ.
Fasten your seat belt!
Not good news for the newly installed, State mandated, artificial racing surface at Santa Anita.
ML/NJ
It’s already started. Winds at the Capitol are blowing rain sideways. Just came back from an appt and could hardly hold onto my umbrella.
It hit here in Rocklin two hours ago; tremendous amount of rain. We are expecting 35 - 45 mph sustained wind with gusts up to 50 mph around 10PM. Flooding in local creeks could be a problem.
Say! This is what you noticed, I’m guessing!
LOL....You & Mrs RR must feel a lot warmer where yer at now huh .....:o)
Stay safe !!
Good news, the more snow in the Sierra the better.
And bring on the rain to Southern California. Burn areas or not, we need it!!
We had 3/4 inch of rain in about 4 hours this morning from 8 until noon or so here in Eureka. In between storms right now...
AL BABY Tell your lady be careful
Scroll down to the 4 day grid under the map, put your mouse cursor on the days grid and drag it forward and backward to get the animated weather progression.
Today was abnormally warm at 46 degrees with the wind blowing at 60mph, but one old timer said that's a sure sign of a massive Sierra blizzard headed our way.
The skies were clear as a bell in the morning, but I just looked out over the Mt. Rose peak (10,000ft) and there were Satan clouds obscuring the peak. It looks like Mordor over there. There was a cloud directly overhead that looked like the alien spacecraft from 'Independence Day' as big as the whole Washoe Valley that had a charcoal gray underside.
If any skiier out there can afford a day of vacation next Tuesday, I would bet that you'd get legendary powder runs above Lake Tahoe in clear weather on a fresh 10' of packing snow. Make those plane reservations into Reno now.
Good thing that I can work from home because I am not going out driving around in 6 to 10 foot snowdrifts.
Happy New Year, Norm. (44 days til Daytona!)
Darn Global Warning, LOL!
And I thought we were still in a drought...More good news lol...
Great photo!
"Where's Al Gore when you need him?!"
It's been into single digits here in the early mornings off and on for four weeks already. This winter is colder than usual, and the summer was milder than usual.
Come on up! I can drive you there in 25 mins.
We need rain, but snow is mo better. Gotta save some of that percipitation.
My prediction is that we’ll have some pretty serious bluster and some localized problems, but I don’t think it’s gonna be as bad as this article prognosticates.
People here don't listen to the weatherman, they go outside and look at the weather. Looks pretty grim from where I am right now. Wind is shaking the building.
That’s a pretty cool weather thingy. Thanks.
I hope we have a real good snowfall. So far we are about 50% behind what’s considered normal.
I’ve noticed that these past couple of years the weather forecasters are “over classifying” the potential strength of winter storms. Perhaps this is to scare ‘immigrants’ out of the danger zones so we don’t have to go searching for somebody who was stupid enough to drive over the mountains wearing summer clothing.
Cool! Thanks. This gives a good idea why everyone is screamin’ prepare. Other weather sites just give this little green mass not even close to LA. This one basically says hold on tight the water’s coming in swoops and swathes. Looks like a lot of systems are coming through and Friday and Saturday are going to be wet, wet, wet. I was going to go out and water some plants, but now looking at this site’s time progression, I shouldn’t even bother . . . more FReep time :-).
All,
I’m a commercial Airline Pilot and Scheduled to fly into SFO tomorrow morning. SIGH...Guess we’ll tanker a LOT of extra fuel so we can divert a long way away if we have to. Heavy rain, Moderate turbulence and moderate icing is not exactly how I wanted to start my work week.
Good night..off to bed for a 0400 wake up call.
Awesome!!! Great photo!!
Its about time... Get the weather now so that next summer the lakes will be filled for boating! WOOOHOOO!
Sweet dreams my FRiend . . . prayers up for you too :-).
My dad's in Reno. He already has his generator and snowblower serviced and ready to go. He's ready.
Stepped out of my SW Reno hobbit-hole just before dark and the clouds were looking ugly. I’ll bet this one performs just like forecast!
Surf’s up!
More detail:
/O.UPG.KHNX.HW.A.0001.080104T1800Z- 080105T0600Z/ /O.NEW.KHNX.WI.Y. 0001.080104T1200Z-080105T0600Z/ WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY- MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS- TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS- KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY- SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT- 347 PM PST THU JAN 3 2008
...WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO 10 PM PST FRIDAY...HIGH WIND WATCH NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS...KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HANFORD HAS ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY FOR THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY...SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS...KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 4 AM TO 10 PM PST FRIDAY.
A VERY STRONG PACIFIC STORM WILL MOVE TOWARD THE UPPER CALIFORNIA COAST LATE TONIGHT. STRONG WINDS WILL DEVELOP EARLY FRIDAY MORNING ACROSS INTERIOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA...AND WILL STRENGTHEN FURTHER LATE FRIDAY MORNING INTO FRIDAY EVENING. SUSTAINED SOUTHEAST WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH WITH FREQUENT GUSTS TO 50 MPH WILL BE LIKELY FROM MIDDAY THROUGH EVENING. LOCALLY HIGHER GUSTS OF UP TO 60 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE BELOW PASSES AND THROUGH CANYONS.
A WIND ADVISORY MEANS THAT SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OF AT LEAST 35 MPH OR GUSTS OF 45 MPH OR MORE ARE EXPECTED. WINDS THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT...ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. SMALL BRANCHES OR SHALLOW ROOTED TREES COULD EVEN BE DOWNED BY WINDS OF THIS MAGNITUDE. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HANFORD.
Do a thorough walk around before leave the terminal. You and the passengers deserve it. What do you fly?
I fly a CRJ-700 for a large national airline. You can probably guess which one based on the destination. Cheers!
What’s your wind like? It’s flexing the plate glass windows here. I bet I could make cardboard wings and fly to Salt Lake City.
I check out KCAL 9 news or Weather channel site here in SO CAL with best weather coverage
I'm already there, I live in the Sierra (not "Sierras").
I blame these storms on Al Gore. He said we would have global warming. He lied.
My daughter is scheduled to drive from SF Bay Area to Eugene, OR. I’m telling her to postpone until Monday, but she insists she has to be there for the start of classes on Monday. I was hoping my wife would support me, but she says it’s ok to go. I was checking the I-5 cams earlier around Shasta and it was an enormous standstill mess. The weather reports for southern Oregon, with higher mountain passes, were even worse.
Any FReepers along I-5 in Nor Cal or So Or care to pass along real-time observations?
Good for him. I remember the four feet of snow in downtown Reno a couple of years ago.
bump
This all correlates real well with solar surface activity. We have had low solar surface activity (less solar wind) which means the earth receives high amounts of cosmic rays. New research has shown that stronger cosmic rays cause more water formation/condensation in the atmosphere. More water in the atmosphere means an increased cloud density and stronger storms. During Global Warming stronger summer storms occur because of high water temps (strong solar activity). During Global Cooling stronger winter storms occur because of increased cosmic rays (weak solar activity). At least that is my best guess at the moment.
I have a good idea who, yes. How do you like that Bombardier?
Not to worry you too much but remember the family from Frisco that got lost and stranded with the daddy freezing to death last year around the holidays.
AIRPORT STATUS INFORMATION
provided by the FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center Reno/Tahoe International Airport (RNO) Real-time Status
The status information provided on this site indicates general airport conditions; it is not flight-specific. Check with your airline to determine if your flight is affected.
Delays by Destination:
Due to WEATHER / WIND, departure traffic destined to San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA (SFO) is currently experiencing delays averaging 2 hours and 58 minutes.
General Departure Delays: Traffic is experiencing gate hold and taxi delays lasting 15 minutes or less.
General Arrival Delays: Arrival traffic is experiencing airborne delays of 15 minutes or less.
This information was last updated: Jan 04, 2008 at 3:09 AM GMT+00:00
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