Hmmm! It's been 5 years since my original post, and they say the incoming storm is going to be the biggest in 5 years Camping out at the office, so I don't have to spend +1.5 hrs on the freeways (traffic has been awful lately! ). They've closed some schools and even offices for today. Looks like SF is already getting some rain. It's just gusty here, but the wet stuff is on it's way. Be careful out there! Keep your flashlights and hand-crank emergency radios closeby. There might be power outages. Stay safe everyone!
Im down in San Jose, no rain yet but the wind has picked up. A lot of sirens already since early this morning, wish we could all just stay inside! Hope everyone has safe travels to their destinations today.
Well you guys and gals need the rainy- badly. I would not hang near any sloped hilly areas though. Btw drought and wildfires your area is ripe for mass wasting once saturation sets in.
Power outages, flooded roads, and just yucky to drive in. Freeways are eerily quiet though! I think everyone was given the option of going into work or not, so traffic was light. A friend posted a photo of a flooded road in San Bruno! Makes me a bit nervous thinking people are driving on it and through it. Wouldn't want to have your car die in the middle of that! Dean, love the GG Bridge and Godzilla photo--it would be nice to have him as a mascot for sure! P.S. Here are some water reservoir info, just in case you are keeping track... http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp ... ain.action http://cdec.water.ca.gov/jspplot/jspPlo ... =&cookies=
Bigger storms have hit this area in my lifetime but I don't remember ever hearing about San Bruno or other peninsula cities flooding quite like that. Kinda shocking. I've been lucky ... power outages missed my street by about two blocks, otherwise hitting most of my SF district. I was surprised to see most of the Financial District lose power early on into the rain yesterday. Thank you for the reservoir links.
Lots and lots of rain and wind! If you've ever had a chance to walk through The Old Pioneer (~2000 year old sequoia), so sad... http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/08/california-storm-topples-historic-pioneer-cabin-tree/ http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Historic-Pioneer-Cabin-Tree-toppled-in-California-10844206.php http://www.inquisitr.com/3869600/hi...s-powerful-storm-topples-sequoia-tunnel-tree/
^^^Well, if they hadn't cut a hole in the base, that +2000 year old tree would have probably survived the storm, with a more stable base (yes, I am a bit of a curmudgeon, and yes, I have been guilty of standing in the magic doorway ). But you're right, we do need the rain and the Sierras snow pack! Tons of downed trees in the park I live across the street from. Took them a solid week of tidying up, and the sound of tree parts being run through the monster grinder, frightened the poor kittees all week!
Kittees went nutso early this morning (3:00 am-ish)! A solid 15 minutes of lightening and thunder, lit up the whole park and neighborhood. Fun to watch, but the furries were terrified! Tons of rain and heavy winds followed. The normally dried grassy meadow across the street, now looks like a thick plush green carpet. Lots of birdies wading through the grass in search of earthworms being uncovered and disoriented by the deluge!
I'm 50/50 on this weather. We need it for sure and yeah, it's that time of year, but damn I wanna be able to go outside and get some rays!
One thing I loved about living on the east coast was the fact that the bad weather really makes you appreciate the nice weather. I am really appreciating the blue sky today.
It's amazing to think that we were in such dire straits less than 6 months ago. The CA reservoirs have made a huge comeback, thanks to Mom Nature http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action This is the Reservoir Map as of Feb 9, 2017 More links for reservoir data: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/misc/daily_res.html http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/reservoirs/RES And for Hetch Hetchy Dam, which is where the majority of SF'ers draw their water (snow from the Sierra Nevada mountain range, melts, and some of the run-off is collected in this dam) https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=11275500 Just a reminder of how dire our water supply was in Hetch Hetchy, in April of 2016, here is a great graphic representation! https://californiawaterblog.com/2016/04/01/water-managers-drop-the-ball-on-hetch-hetchy/ We really do need a break from the storm. Landslide danger is highly elevated, due to extreme saturation rates, and downed trees are everywhere. Even more worrisome, is the damage that occurred to Oroville Dam. A large hole has opened up on the dam spillway (the area of the dam structure that is used to allow controlled releases of water flow from a dam). If the water level is allowed to spill over the top of the dam, this could cause damage and possibly even collapse of the dam! If water is allowed to top over the dam, and flow along the sides, this also poses possibilities of damaging the sides of the slope and ultimately the dam structure as well. Moving water is a powerful force. Close up of part of the hole on the dam spillway Overall view of the hole on the spillway Here is a schematic of a dam construction, for your reference (*the spillway is that whole slope, along the side of this dam schematic, which allows the draining of the water to take place) Here are the news articles on the Oroville Dam damage http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/...-grows-with-water-10924251.php#photo-12340323 http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Oroville-Dam-spillway-hole-erosion-water-reservoir-10920358.php 2/7/2017 The Oroville Dam spillway collapses! http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/02/17/oroville-dam-what-made-the-spillway-collapse/ Update 2/11/2017 http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/artic...use-for-first-10925628.php?ipid=articlerecirc At 770 feet high, Oroville Dam is the tallest dam in the U.S., and there is now some concern that it may suffer some serious damage. Pumping out water to prevent overflowing that occurred last week is continuing, the spillway has collapsed, and erosion is occurring along the emergency spillway. Workers are frantically trying to remove debris so that repairs can resume. With more rain expected this weekend, officials are definitely concerned 2/15/2017 Oroville Dam - more damage and evacuations Here is a concise and good explanation of the crisis http://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/2/13/14598042/oroville-dam-flood-evacuation 2/17/2017 - Update http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Oroville-Dam-Here-s-what-you-need-to-know-10928962.php http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/...0941423.php?ipid=articlerecirc#photo-12372775
Be careful out there! Nearly got washed off the road tonight! It's raining buckets in the east bay, freeways are flooded. Trees are snapping in the wind too!
It was pretty scary last night. I'm directing a show at my high school so I don't get to leave until late. And there were two earthquakes in the last couple of days. You're not even safe at home!
It was a gnarly one in Sonoma County. Roads were flooded and trees fell. My poor chickens had their coop blown over in the middle of the night. It's a pretty heavy coop but the nesting box in back was heavy enough to knock it over with a big gust I guess. Hopefully we'll have a bit of a respite now.
Gale warnings and strong winds with +55mph right now (sounds like it's higher). I can hear the winds roaring through the trees across the street in the park (loud enough to wake you up) sorta scary! Thank goodness we have Brushy the basement cat with us tonight. He/she has been sheltering from the storms the past few days. Loud cracking sounds, probably means trees and branches have come down, we'll see later this morning.
I cheated and grabbed this frame from a video I took Sunday morning. That's facing southeast from my place towards Petaluma. Quite the weather we're having. Just in time for fire season.
