yay California!
 

finally getting some decent rains and seeing some positive
inflows into the reservoirs the past few weeks.

this last rain that went through dropped enough snow and
rain to make a nice bump up for most of the lowest reservoirs.

Folsom picked up 34,471 AF of water from yesterday's
reading (that's 11,232,409,821 gallons of water) as they
were rather low to begin with that's a great relief.
Mc Clure gained 8,688 AF giving it a 2% bump from the low
of 6% to 8%. they were close to sucking air there with
only 60,000 AF not too long ago, now back to close to
80,000 AF gives the people relying upon it for drinking
water a welcome breath of relief.


songbird

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:
finally getting some decent rains and seeing some positive
inflows into the reservoirs the past few weeks.

continued good news for CA as the storms have
kept layering in, not too horrible yet in most
places with some days in between where the ground
can soak it up.

for the first time in a long time the reading
on the page i follow has reached over 8maf for
the collection of reserviors (i didn't note the
bottom, but i'd guess they've picked up about 600-
800 thousand af).

snowpack looks like it is off to a good start
too, for much of the west that will be a big help,
now if the trend can continue...


songbird

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:
....
for the first time in a long time the reading
on the page i follow has reached over 8maf for
the collection of reserviors (i didn't note the
bottom, but i'd guess they've picked up about 600-
800 thousand af).

today's report updated to

9,653,802af

not bad, drink up mother earth!


songbird

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:

....Jan 26...
today's report updated to

9,653,802af

....Feb 9...
and now they're up to 11,075,801 acre feet.

still too much of it in the north and not
enough in the south, but much better than they
were a few weeks ago.

the snow pack is also above or near average.

the operators at Folsom are now talking of having
to let some of the water out because Folsom reservoir's
primary purpose is flood control and they are close
to that limit.

El Nino is gradually shifting north and is hoped to
start making some storms for southern CA in a week or
two... we shall see and continue to hope so.


songbird

yay California!
 

In article ,
songbird wrote:

El Nino is gradually shifting north and is hoped to
start making some storms for southern CA in a week or
two... we shall see and continue to hope so.

....and then the mudslides and/or debris-flows will start. Never a dull
moment. Locally, we are actually having snow (a little) and frigid
weather in February. Which is only odd because we were having spring
last weekend, complete with a flowering snowdrop and plenty of mud. I
presume Fran is having what, mid-late summer?

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

yay California!
 

Ecnerwal wrote:
songbird wrote:

El Nino is gradually shifting north and is hoped to
start making some storms for southern CA in a week or
two... we shall see and continue to hope so.

...and then the mudslides and/or debris-flows will start. Never a dull
moment.

not in such a place with their soils and climate.

so much could be done if people wanted to do the
work.


Locally, we are actually having snow (a little) and frigid
weather in February. Which is only odd because we were having spring
last weekend, complete with a flowering snowdrop and plenty of mud.

yeah, we had a warmer spell too, but i'm glad it
has returned to cold so that the trees don't flower
too early. it's going to be minus F for several nights
if the forecast holds.


I
presume Fran is having what, mid-late summer?

getting towards the equinox. it's nice to have the
days getting longer again.


songbird

yay California!
 

On 2/12/2016 1:53 AM, songbird wrote:
Ecnerwal wrote:
songbird wrote:

El Nino is gradually shifting north and is hoped to
start making some storms for southern CA in a week or
two... we shall see and continue to hope so.

...and then the mudslides and/or debris-flows will start. Never a dull
moment.

not in such a place with their soils and climate.

so much could be done if people wanted to do the
work.


Locally, we are actually having snow (a little) and frigid
weather in February. Which is only odd because we were having spring
last weekend, complete with a flowering snowdrop and plenty of mud.

yeah, we had a warmer spell too, but i'm glad it
has returned to cold so that the trees don't flower
too early. it's going to be minus F for several nights
if the forecast holds.


I
presume Fran is having what, mid-late summer?

getting towards the equinox. it's nice to have the
days getting longer again.


songbird

Brr! Going to be upwards of 70F here today. I could not live where it
gets that cold. I'm hoping climate change turns us into a desert.

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:

...Jan 26...
today's report updated to

9,653,802af

...Feb 9...
and now they're up to 11,075,801 acre feet.

....Feb 25...

12,009,924 af. slowed down quite a bit the past
few weeks with very little wet weather, but they
still have a ways to go yet.

the El Nino shift has happened only once and then
it looks like it has shifted back again. a few more
weeks? dunno...

the Folsom reservoir is spilling water because it
does need to be used for flood control. this is not
a bad thing because that increases water flows to
the delta and that means they can pump more water
from there further south or in the intermediate
reservoirs. so not all of that water is actually
wasted. and i'm sure the fishies and other river
and delta creatures appreciate it too.

the snow pack is now below average, but still much
better than what they've had for a while. just hope
they get a few more good storms before the season
ends. months away yet.

in other areas the upper Colorado River snow pack
isn't bad, but the southern part may be a bit grim.
more storms will help there too...


songbird

yay California!
 

On 02/25/2016 04:14 PM, songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:

...Jan 26...
today's report updated to

9,653,802af

...Feb 9...
and now they're up to 11,075,801 acre feet.

...Feb 25...

12,009,924 af. slowed down quite a bit the past
few weeks with very little wet weather, but they
still have a ways to go yet.

the El Nino shift has happened only once and then
it looks like it has shifted back again. a few more
weeks? dunno...

the Folsom reservoir is spilling water because it
does need to be used for flood control. this is not
a bad thing because that increases water flows to
the delta and that means they can pump more water
from there further south or in the intermediate
reservoirs. so not all of that water is actually
wasted. and i'm sure the fishies and other river
and delta creatures appreciate it too.

the snow pack is now below average, but still much
better than what they've had for a while. just hope
they get a few more good storms before the season
ends. months away yet.

in other areas the upper Colorado River snow pack
isn't bad, but the southern part may be a bit grim.
more storms will help there too...


songbird


I just checked the jet steam:

http://squall.sfsu.edu/crws/jetstream.html

There is a tiny low pressure (counter clockwise swirly),
but is really weak and may only affect British Columbia.

It may be a few weeks before anything wet happens.

yay California!
 

T wrote:
....
I just checked the jet steam:

http://squall.sfsu.edu/crws/jetstream.html

There is a tiny low pressure (counter clockwise swirly),
but is really weak and may only affect British Columbia.

It may be a few weeks before anything wet happens.

looked like some rain/snow went through yesterday
and the day before. there are the CA water websites
i use for that and the regional radars. if you want
links i'll post 'em. :)

i also check GEOS water vapor loop when i think of it
and want to see what is possible:

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/nepac/flash-wv.html

right now the pattern has shifted again to where the
moisture is coming from the NW and not the SW, but for
a while a few weeks ago the pattern had shifted to where
some storms were being driven by moisture coming from
the SW. i hope it shifts again and they get some
decent rains before the snow season is up.


songbird

yay California!
 

On 02/28/2016 01:22 AM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
I just checked the jet steam:

http://squall.sfsu.edu/crws/jetstream.html

There is a tiny low pressure (counter clockwise swirly),
but is really weak and may only affect British Columbia.

It may be a few weeks before anything wet happens.

looked like some rain/snow went through yesterday
and the day before. there are the CA water websites
i use for that and the regional radars. if you want
links i'll post 'em. :)

i also check GEOS water vapor loop when i think of it
and want to see what is possible:

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/west/nepac/flash-wv.html

Hi Songbird,

I look at the water vapor over on
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/?wfo=rev

I haven't found it very helpful as far as rain goes.
The infrared (also on that web site) is a lot more
helpful. The vapor is a good indication of the relative
humidity. Great to know during Fire Season. Nevada
has two seasons: winter and fire season. (Fishing
season is all year, so it doesn't count.)


right now the pattern has shifted again to where the
moisture is coming from the NW and not the SW, but for
a while a few weeks ago the pattern had shifted to where
some storms were being driven by moisture coming from
the SW. i hope it shifts again and they get some
decent rains before the snow season is up.


songbird


There should be a tag team of Maritime Tropical and Maritime
Polar storms coming through. Seems like we have been missing
the Polar one lately (too far north). And the Tropical
seems to be AWOL lately. It is typical in the summer
for these two guys to separate so much that there is no
rain at all for months.

The Jet Stream is a complete hoot to watch. The high and
low pressures are a give away. This is why the Vapor
isn't really helpful. It does not show the moist warm
air (low pressure, counter clock wise rotation) rising
over cold descending air (high pressure, clock wise rotation),
which triggers the rain.

In the summer, you can predict thunderstorm by watching
a low pressure on the jet stream off Southern PRC (People's
Republic of California) suck water off the ocean and
rotate it over southern Nevada and Utah, then bang it
up again the back side of the Sierra's and storm like hell.
Our thunderstorm are the most fascinating drama you
can imagine.

The weather has fascinated me since college. My wife
says I am better than the weathermen on the TV.
(No big leap. They are too ignorant/arrogant to
actually look at NOAA's weather side and see for
themselves, which is what happens when your are
hired for your looks.)

-T

yay California!
 

Weather service is saying there is a chance of rain on Saturday.
That could easily change by then

yay California!
 

T wrote:
Weather service is saying there is a chance of rain on Saturday.
That could easily change by then

yeah, i tend to not count things until they
arrive as we are in a valley where storms tend
to break up before they get here in the summer.

i was glad to see that they are forecasting
significant rains for CA for this weekend and
so on, but again, we'll have to be patient to
see what actually happens.

a few more inches of rain in the central and
southern parts of the state would be really good
as those reservoirs are the ones most depleted
right now. the northern reservoirs have come
back nicely.

some of the news outlets have been complaining
about the results of the El Nino so far and the
various predictions, but to me each El Nino is
still rare enough that we have a lot to keep
learning.


songbird

yay California!
 

On 02/29/2016 09:01 PM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
Weather service is saying there is a chance of rain on Saturday.
That could easily change by then

yeah, i tend to not count things until they
arrive as we are in a valley where storms tend
to break up before they get here in the summer.

i was glad to see that they are forecasting
significant rains for CA for this weekend and
so on, but again, we'll have to be patient to
see what actually happens.

a few more inches of rain in the central and
southern parts of the state would be really good
as those reservoirs are the ones most depleted
right now. the northern reservoirs have come
back nicely.

some of the news outlets have been complaining
about the results of the El Nino so far and the
various predictions, but to me each El Nino is
still rare enough that we have a lot to keep
learning.


songbird


NOAA is saying Saturday pretty solid now.

yay California!
 

On 03/03/2016 12:26 PM, T wrote:
On 02/29/2016 09:01 PM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
Weather service is saying there is a chance of rain on Saturday.
That could easily change by then

yeah, i tend to not count things until they
arrive as we are in a valley where storms tend
to break up before they get here in the summer.

i was glad to see that they are forecasting
significant rains for CA for this weekend and
so on, but again, we'll have to be patient to
see what actually happens.

a few more inches of rain in the central and
southern parts of the state would be really good
as those reservoirs are the ones most depleted
right now. the northern reservoirs have come
back nicely.

some of the news outlets have been complaining
about the results of the El Nino so far and the
various predictions, but to me each El Nino is
still rare enough that we have a lot to keep
learning.


songbird


NOAA is saying Saturday pretty solid now.

It just started raining. The weather radar show a
lot of energy bearing down on us (Norther Nevada)

yay California!
 

T wrote:
....
It just started raining. The weather radar show a
lot of energy bearing down on us (Norther Nevada)

just glad to see any rain out there at all.
especially heading towards middle and southern CA.

you have things set up on your property to catch
all the rain so it doesn't run off?


songbird

yay California!
 

On 03/04/2016 05:41 PM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
It just started raining. The weather radar show a
lot of energy bearing down on us (Norther Nevada)

just glad to see any rain out there at all.
especially heading towards middle and southern CA.

you have things set up on your property to catch
all the rain so it doesn't run off?

I have about 100 years or more to catch up with
your skills. :'(

I would just like to grow zucchini!

yay California!
 

On 03/04/2016 04:27 PM, T wrote:
On 03/03/2016 12:26 PM, T wrote:
On 02/29/2016 09:01 PM, songbird wrote:
T wrote:
Weather service is saying there is a chance of rain on Saturday.
That could easily change by then

yeah, i tend to not count things until they
arrive as we are in a valley where storms tend
to break up before they get here in the summer.

i was glad to see that they are forecasting
significant rains for CA for this weekend and
so on, but again, we'll have to be patient to
see what actually happens.

a few more inches of rain in the central and
southern parts of the state would be really good
as those reservoirs are the ones most depleted
right now. the northern reservoirs have come
back nicely.

some of the news outlets have been complaining
about the results of the El Nino so far and the
various predictions, but to me each El Nino is
still rare enough that we have a lot to keep
learning.


songbird


NOAA is saying Saturday pretty solid now.

It just started raining. The weather radar show a
lot of energy bearing down on us (Norther Nevada)

Yesterday's storm was rather "warm" as storms go
(maritime tropical).

The temperature is dropping like a rock. Looks
like a Maritime Polar is on its way! (I can't help
myself, I do so love snow!)

So it seems like we are back to tag team.

A few years back, we had monster Maritime Polar come
through and dump a ton of snow. Then it got tagged
with a really warm Maritime Tropical with a snow
level of about 11,000 feet. It melted all the
snow from the previous storm. The effect was
two huge storms a once. Tons of flooding.

It is much better for the first storm to be a
Tropical.

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:

...Jan 26...
today's report updated to

9,653,802af

...Feb 9...
and now they're up to 11,075,801 acre feet.

...Feb 25...

12,009,924 af. slowed down quite a bit the past
few weeks with very little wet weather, but they
still have a ways to go yet.

....Mar 7...

13,174,697 af (missing one reservoir)

this is not counting today's storms so things will pop
nicely from that over the next few days/weeks with more
still in the forecast.


songbird

yay California!
 

On 3/7/2016 9:03 PM, songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:

...Jan 26...
today's report updated to

9,653,802af

...Feb 9...
and now they're up to 11,075,801 acre feet.

...Feb 25...

12,009,924 af. slowed down quite a bit the past
few weeks with very little wet weather, but they
still have a ways to go yet.

...Mar 7...

13,174,697 af (missing one reservoir)

this is not counting today's storms so things will pop
nicely from that over the next few days/weeks with more
still in the forecast.


songbird

I wish we could send y'all some rain, we're expecting heavy rains today
and for the next several days. I hope it is not like last years spring
rain where we got 18 inches in three days. Heavily overcast out there as
I just went out to check the gardens. We've mostly got our spring garden
planted with minor exceptions.

I'm getting up earlier nowadays since the doctor took me off another
heart med and cut one from three pills a day to half a pill morning and
evening. Also sleeping better since I'm taking a 10 mg Melatonin tablet
at bedtime.

George

yay California!
 

George Shirley wrote:
....
I wish we could send y'all some rain, we're expecting heavy rains today
and for the next several days.

the reservoirs added another 300,000af to the totals
in one day. so, yeah, they got a pretty good rain over
most of the state for a change. :) and the middle and
the south part got some. that is what they really need
is more rain to the south and central parts where the
reservoirs are the most depleted.


I hope it is not like last years spring
rain where we got 18 inches in three days. Heavily overcast out there as
I just went out to check the gardens. We've mostly got our spring garden
planted with minor exceptions.

in spots they say something like 11 inches of rain in
two days.


I'm getting up earlier nowadays since the doctor took me off another
heart med and cut one from three pills a day to half a pill morning and
evening. Also sleeping better since I'm taking a 10 mg Melatonin tablet
at bedtime.

:) a good night's sleep can make so much difference!
hope you're feeling better?


songbird

yay California!
 

T wrote:
songbird wrote:
....
you have things set up on your property to catch
all the rain so it doesn't run off?

I have about 100 years or more to catch up with
your skills. :'(

you have a very strange idea of me for sure as
there are others here who have a lot more practical
knowledge...


I would just like to grow zucchini!

see, that right there, i've not grown any of those
here at all, you already have more experience than i
do in that regards. :)


songbird

yay California!
 

On 3/8/2016 7:03 PM, songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
...
I wish we could send y'all some rain, we're expecting heavy rains today
and for the next several days.

the reservoirs added another 300,000af to the totals
in one day. so, yeah, they got a pretty good rain over
most of the state for a change. :) and the middle and
the south part got some. that is what they really need
is more rain to the south and central parts where the
reservoirs are the most depleted.


I hope it is not like last years spring
rain where we got 18 inches in three days. Heavily overcast out there as
I just went out to check the gardens. We've mostly got our spring garden
planted with minor exceptions.

in spots they say something like 11 inches of rain in
two days.


I'm getting up earlier nowadays since the doctor took me off another
heart med and cut one from three pills a day to half a pill morning and
evening. Also sleeping better since I'm taking a 10 mg Melatonin tablet
at bedtime.

:) a good night's sleep can make so much difference!
hope you're feeling better?


songbird

I'll never be a spry youngster anymore but I'm going to bed around 2100
and getting up about 0600 and not needing a nap until mid afternoon.
That beats laying around all day dozing off and drooling. Of course the
dawg misses the naps but it doesn't slow her down, she knows she's old
too. She's snoring on the couch behind my desk and its only 1955 hours.
Tilly Dawg knows how to live right. I am feeling better and am not
dragging my leg as much. When the doc tested me n the 1st of March my BP
was 97 over 60, I felt tired and he almost passed out that I could still
be moving at that BP. He really got worried when I mentioned BP's in the
70 and 80 range one day and almost 300 the next. Heck, I'm used to it,
been having a bad heart since 1986, you do get used to it and learn to
pace yourself. Been left for dead twice in all these years but I'm still
kicking. I've still got great grandbabies to train yet. Someone has to
teach them how to fix things and grow their own food. Their parents are
all busy making a living.

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:
....
you have a very strange idea of me for sure as
there are others here who have a lot more practical
knowledge...

heheheh, love this guy's brain:

http://permaculturenews.org/2016/03/...gn-for-living/


i've read his works as best i can and agree with much
of what he writes.

as where i live is a prime example of doing it wrong, but
it was done wrong for a purpose (art and the creation of).
for me to go back and redo this entire site in line with
permie principles would be a vast amount of work and take
a lot of resources. i can paste bits on here or there and
help it out, but a proper design from the start would have
avoided so much... ah well, still love it, with all the
frustrations and defects. it is still home, because Ma is
here and so here am i too. :)

we saw the first killdeer yesterday when we were out
walking and it was in the mid to high 60s today. spring
is going to be here.

peace and goodnight,


songbird

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
...
you have a very strange idea of me for sure as
there are others here who have a lot more practical
knowledge...

heheheh, love this guy's brain:

http://permaculturenews.org/2016/03/...gn-for-living/


i've read his works as best i can and agree with much
of what he writes.

as where i live is a prime example of doing it wrong, but
it was done wrong for a purpose (art and the creation of).
for me to go back and redo this entire site in line with
permie principles would be a vast amount of work and take
a lot of resources. i can paste bits on here or there and
help it out, but a proper design from the start would have
avoided so much... ah well, still love it, with all the
frustrations and defects. it is still home, because Ma is
here and so here am i too. :)

we saw the first killdeer yesterday when we were out
walking and it was in the mid to high 60s today. spring
is going to be here.

peace and goodnight,


songbird

I saw a yellow belly sapsucker yesterday , checking a maple tree over for
bugs . Thought it was a pileated at first until I realized how small it was
.. First one I've ever seen .

--
Snag

yay California!
 

In article ,
"Terry Coombs" wrote:
I saw a yellow belly sapsucker yesterday , checking a maple tree over for
bugs . Thought it was a pileated at first until I realized how small it was
. First one I've ever seen .

Might have been checking for bugs. Might just be living up (or down) to
its name (I have a bunch of trees with patterns of holes those guys
drill.)

I'm a bit concerned that we might be in for a repeat of a few years
back, when it hit 80°F in early March, and then froze all the
buds/flowers off the fruit trees in late April. Pretty much doodly-squat
for fruit that year.

--
Cats, coffee, chocolate...vices to live by
Please don't feed the trolls. Killfile and ignore them so they will go away.

yay California!
 

Ecnerwal wrote:
In article ,
"Terry Coombs" wrote:
I saw a yellow belly sapsucker yesterday , checking a maple tree
over for bugs . Thought it was a pileated at first until I realized
how small it was . First one I've ever seen .

Might have been checking for bugs. Might just be living up (or down)
to its name (I have a bunch of trees with patterns of holes those guys
drill.)

I'm a bit concerned that we might be in for a repeat of a few years
back, when it hit 80°F in early March, and then froze all the
buds/flowers off the fruit trees in late April. Pretty much
doodly-squat for fruit that year.

I hope not ! My peach tree has blossoms starting to swell and open , and
last-frost date is weeks away .

--
Snag

yay California!
 

George Shirley wrote:
songbird wrote:
....
:) a good night's sleep can make so much difference!
hope you're feeling better?


I'll never be a spry youngster anymore but I'm going to bed around 2100
and getting up about 0600 and not needing a nap until mid afternoon.
That beats laying around all day dozing off and drooling. Of course the
dawg misses the naps but it doesn't slow her down, she knows she's old
too. She's snoring on the couch behind my desk and its only 1955 hours.
Tilly Dawg knows how to live right. I am feeling better and am not
dragging my leg as much. When the doc tested me n the 1st of March my BP
was 97 over 60, I felt tired and he almost passed out that I could still
be moving at that BP. He really got worried when I mentioned BP's in the
70 and 80 range one day and almost 300 the next. Heck, I'm used to it,
been having a bad heart since 1986, you do get used to it and learn to
pace yourself. Been left for dead twice in all these years but I'm still
kicking. I've still got great grandbabies to train yet. Someone has to
teach them how to fix things and grow their own food. Their parents are
all busy making a living.

true and a lot of kids are too, but even if they
can get a bit of fond memories for later on when they
slow down they can come back to it. like gardening...
it can be picked up later.

napping is dangerous. i've fought all night to not
take a nap so i can get to sleep at a normal time in
a few minutes.

*scritch the dawg for me*

think my BP is doing ok, don't think i ever felt
over 300, when i was hiking and swimming it was probably
the best. now probably 90 - 110. i know my metabolism
is very efficient when i'm resting.

spring flowers will be out soon, too warm for the rest
of the week and they are already poking up. ground isn't
frozen enough. most the snow is now gone.

looks like the rains are hammering y'alls again... eek!


songbird

yay California!
 

On 3/9/2016 9:59 PM, songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote:
songbird wrote:
...
:) a good night's sleep can make so much difference!
hope you're feeling better?


I'll never be a spry youngster anymore but I'm going to bed around 2100
and getting up about 0600 and not needing a nap until mid afternoon.
That beats laying around all day dozing off and drooling. Of course the
dawg misses the naps but it doesn't slow her down, she knows she's old
too. She's snoring on the couch behind my desk and its only 1955 hours.
Tilly Dawg knows how to live right. I am feeling better and am not
dragging my leg as much. When the doc tested me n the 1st of March my BP
was 97 over 60, I felt tired and he almost passed out that I could still
be moving at that BP. He really got worried when I mentioned BP's in the
70 and 80 range one day and almost 300 the next. Heck, I'm used to it,
been having a bad heart since 1986, you do get used to it and learn to
pace yourself. Been left for dead twice in all these years but I'm still
kicking. I've still got great grandbabies to train yet. Someone has to
teach them how to fix things and grow their own food. Their parents are
all busy making a living.

true and a lot of kids are too, but even if they
can get a bit of fond memories for later on when they
slow down they can come back to it. like gardening...
it can be picked up later.

napping is dangerous. i've fought all night to not
take a nap so i can get to sleep at a normal time in
a few minutes.
Tilly likes long naps to get ready for bed. I'm trying not to listen to her.

*scritch the dawg for me*

She do like being scratched, mostly around the base of her tail, under
her neck, and on top of her head. She seems to be able to reach
everywhere else. She also likes giving kisses and the great grands seem
to think it's the thing to walk over to Tilly and tell her "gimmie a
smooch" and she religiously does it, which gets giggles.

think my BP is doing ok, don't think i ever felt
over 300, when i was hiking and swimming it was probably
the best. now probably 90 - 110. i know my metabolism
is very efficient when i'm resting.

You're still a kid, wait till old age sets in. You will probably be like
my Mother, still going strong into her eighties, went to sleep and
didn't wake up at 89. When I was a young boy I used to watch her weed
her flower beds. She would pick up a snake, snap it like a whip and take
its head off, then want me to go bury it or throw it in the pond. I'm
not like her, I carry a mean hoe and can chop a poisonous snake's head
at six feet. Much safer for someone who can no longer run. Fortunately
the dawg spots them first and runs them under the fence.

spring flowers will be out soon, too warm for the rest
of the week and they are already poking up. ground isn't
frozen enough. most the snow is now gone.

looks like the rains are hammering y'alls again... eek!


songbird

It's not bad 'bird, coming in squalls, had another one just hit us an
hour ago. Left standing water in the gardens and yard so we have
saturated soil and clay now. Probably going to go on for another two or
three days. That's normal rain in SE Texas, the home of floods,
tornadoes, and hurricanes.

Makes the crazy drivers slow down maybe a mile or two. Saw a notice in
the paper the other day that the main thoroughfare in front of our
subdivision handles over 100,000 vehicles a day. Mostly during the go to
work and go home again times. I believe because I don't get out on the
road until after 0900.

George

yay California!
 

On 03/08/2016 05:08 PM, songbird wrote:
you have a very strange idea of me for sure as
there are others here who have a lot more practical
knowledge...

You are being humble. If I was any good at gardening
at all I could be humble too. Not any time soon.

:'(

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:

...Jan 26...
today's report updated to

9,653,802af

...Feb 9...
and now they're up to 11,075,801 acre feet.

...Feb 25...

12,009,924 af. slowed down quite a bit the past
few weeks with very little wet weather, but they
still have a ways to go yet.

...Mar 7...

13,174,697 af (missing one reservoir)

....Mar 12...

14,004,806 af

cranking right along, storms still coming. :)

the storm yesterday made it to the south and the
day before they had a storm rain in the central part
for over a day and a half.


songbird

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:
....
...Mar 7...

13,174,697 af (missing one reservoir)

...Mar 12...

14,004,806 af

note: this total is from Mar 10th report totals.
200 - 300 thousand af per day is such a huge amount
of water.


songbird

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
...
...Mar 7...

13,174,697 af (missing one reservoir)

...Mar 12...

14,004,806 af

....Mar 15...

15,620,430

most of the gains still in the north. the
south did get some rains, but they still need a lot
more. a break in the weather for a bit before the
storms return.


songbird

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
...
...Mar 7...

13,174,697 af (missing one reservoir)

...Mar 12...

14,004,806 af

...Mar 15...

15,620,430


....Apr 6...

17,147,962

things have calmed down quite a bit and the snow pack
has begun to shrink even more without new snows piling on
top.

more rains in the forecast, but i don't know how heavy
they will turn out to be. not enough in the central and
southern parts by far...

still hoping for more rain this rainy season, but they
are doing much better this year than last year.


songbird

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
songbird wrote:
...
...Mar 7...

13,174,697 af (missing one reservoir)

...Mar 12...

14,004,806 af

...Mar 15...

15,620,430


...Apr 6...

17,147,962

looks like it topped out sometime the past few weeks
at about 19maf, which put it at seasonal average of 90%.

still most of the water is far to the north of where
it was really needed. the central part of CA did get
some more rains and snows which did help a lot, but
still could have used a lot more. the southern part of
CA did not get much at all to help it break the drought.

the snow pack is rapidly melting off.

if the coming year is a La Nina year (dryer than
normal) then the drought will be back on for the
central part and the southern part will be even worse
than it currently is (which is hard to imagine).

from the other side Lake Powell and Lake Mead are
also on the low end of their historic averages. the
snow pack there was not too bad, it will be interesting
to see what level Lake Powell tops out at. they've
been keeping the upper reservoirs fairly full (that
feed into Lake Powell).


songbird

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:

....about CA water storage/season...

this year is looking pretty good, if there
wasn't the situation with the Oroville Spillway
it would be great.

major reservoir levels are reading about:

Total Storage (AF) 22,656,646
Total Average Storage 20,567,895
Total % Group Average 110.16%


Snow pack is where it is at:

Statewide Average SWEQ 31"
Statewide Percent of April 1 110%
Statewide Percent of Normal 194%

especially considering that two short years ago
it was pretty much zero...


Heading over to the Colorado River basin (which
also supplies water to CA via aqueducts):

the river forecast is that there will be some
extra water for Lake Mead this year, not exactly
sure how much, but anything extra is a help with
it running lower. the more good news is that
there are expectations and hopes that less will
be used.

snow pack there is reported to also be in pretty
good shape. runoff is just now starting to get
into gear.


the overall picture is pretty good. the
drought is mostly considered over and another
bullet was dodged. this extra wet year will
buy them more time to upgrade and enhance the
ground water districts and to try to get a
better balance between pumping and recharge
rates. plenty of projects are going in to
help with this, but it does take time for them
to be put in. water recycling and desalinization
projects are also in the works.

and of course i'm always glad to see environmental
restoration and projects aimed at putting a more
natural water holding systems back in place (forests
and meadows upstream). just returning beavers to
an area can do a great deal for that.


songbird

yay California!
 

songbird wrote:

....

the most recent update looks ok, but is
pretty much as expected after such a great
snowpack/runoff.

Total AF 23,169,139
Group Average 118.05%

only three reservoirs in the list not
doing that well, and one of them is the result
of the spillway break at Oroville (repairs
underway), the other two are in the far south
where the need is greatest. hopefully they
can be shored up this season from water shipped
south.

Lake Mead and Lake Powell are doing ok, but
the lack of spring rains meant about 1maf of
snow evaporated rather than contributed to
runoff. the inflows to Lake Powell peaked
a few weeks ago, but it is still rising very
slowly. probably will peak soon (around 66-67%
full).


songbird