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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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)