Posted on 12/17/2010 7:42:32 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
STRONG PACIFIC STORM SYSTEMS WILL BRING HIGH RAIN AMOUNTS TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA THROUGH AT LEAST WEDNESDAY...
MOIST WEST TO SOUTHWEST FLOW ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN WILL SEND A GREAT AMOUNT OF SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE INTO CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FOR MOST OF THE COMING WEEK. A SERIES OF WAVES WILL IMPACT THE REGION AND PERIODS OF SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL ARE EXPECTED.
FOR THIS WEEKEND...THE FOCUS OF THIS MOISTURE WILL BE FROM CENTRAL CALIFORNIA TO THE LOS ANGELES AREA...SO AREAS FARTHER SOUTH TOWARD SAN DIEGO WILL BE ON THE EDGE OF THE HEAVIEST RAIN AND WILL NOT GET QUITE AS MUCH. IN ADDITION...LOW LEVEL WINDS FROM THE SOUTHWEST WILL PRODUCE MUCH HIGHER RAINFALL IN THE MOUNTAINS THAN IN THE LOWLANDS.
THE FIRST WAVE WILL IMPACT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TONIGHT AND SATURDAY AND BRING STEADY LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN. A SECOND WAVE WILL ARRIVE SUNDAY AND BRING SOMEWHAT HEAVIER RAINFALL...THOUGH STILL A STEADY RAIN. THE RAIN WILL BECOME LIGHTER BY MONDAY.
TOTAL RAINFALL ESTIMATES FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT ARE AS FOLLOWS:
SAN DIEGO COUNTY COAST 1.00 TO 1.50 INCHES SAN DIEGO COUNTY VALLEYS 1.50 TO 2.00 INCHES ORANGE COUNTY COAST 1.50 TO 2.50 INCHES INLAND EMPIRE 1.25 TO 3.00 INCHES (HIGHEST NORTH) SAN DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS 2.00 TO 5.00 INCHES RIVERSIDE COUNTY MOUNTAINS 2.50 TO 5.00 INCHES SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS 3.00 TO 6.00 INCHES SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MTNS 4.00 TO 8.00 INCHES
NOTE THAT MOUNTAIN TOTALS WILL BE HIGHLY VARIABLE. FOR THE DESERTS...
SAN DIEGO COUNTY DESERTS AROUND ONE-HALF INCH COACHELLA VALLEY LESS THAN ONE INCH APPLE AND LUCERNE VALLEYS AROUND ONE INCH
HEAVY RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED...BUT THEY WILL BE DUE TO LONG DURATIONS AND NOT DUE TO HEAVY INTENSITIES. THEREFORE...THE FLASH FLOOD THREAT WILL BE FAIRLY LOW OVER THE WEEKEND. HOWEVER...SOME LOW LYING SPOTS...ESPECIALLY ALONG STREETS...COULD HAVE MINOR FLOODING...ESPECIALLY SUNDAY. STREAMS AND WASHES WHICH MIGHT NORMALLY BE DRY COULD HAVE WATER FLOWING THROUGH THEM THIS WEEKEND.
SNOW LEVELS WILL BE QUITE HIGH THROUGH MONDAY. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL REMAIN ABOVE 8000 FEET...CONFINED TO THE HIGHEST PEAKS OF SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES.
BREEZY SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE DURING THE WEEKEND WITH THE MOUNTAIN WIND SPEEDS AS HIGH AS 25 TO 35 MPH WITH SOME GUSTS TO 50 MPH. STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE ON THE RIDGES AND DESERT SLOPES.
FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK...THE STRONG JET STREAM WILL SHIFT SOUTH INTO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AS THE EAST PACIFIC TROUGH MOVES TO THE COAST. THIS WILL BRING SEVERAL PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN ANYWHERE FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE HEAVY RAIN WILL FALL ON TOP OF SATURATED SOILS AND COULD PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING THEN. DUE TO THE SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT...SNOW LEVELS WILL REMAIN HIGH.
RESIDENTS AND VISITORS OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SHOULD STAY INFORMED DURING THIS UPCOMING WET WEATHER. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS.
I see rain for Sunday and light rain for Monday. What does light rain mean in CA? Just short of a monsoon? ;)
You got that right.
And it was wildy wicked when it hit us last week.
Sleepin in the rain... I’m sleepin in the rain... La La La La La La... I’m happy again!!!
Are you on the 395?
But we can get dumped on too.
A few years back over the rainy season one of the stations up in the San Gabriel Mountains just above LA recorded 90 inchs.
I don't know if that was a record.
i think we had 3 or 4 big events and several smaller ones....over the several months .
We once had 6 inches of rain in an hour here in the desert, it washed off a hunk of the mountain and for years it looked like someone had put a freeway up the side of it.
No. I just had no idea the amount of snow CA gets.
Well...this storm so far is pretty mild....down here.
No, not tonight, but my home is just a few blocks off Hwy 395 in the heart of the Sierra.
Well...must shut down here....got to dig out some maps....tomorrow.
Thanks, again, for your help.
Good night.
Without the snowpack in the Sierra, Southern California would have very little water. Almost 80% of the water supply for the City of Los Angeles comes from from the melted Sierra snowpack, pumped some 300 miles south in a pipe aquaduct built around a 100 years ago.
Good night and thanks for the geography lesson tonight. More than Alaska.
I’m keeping you in my prayers this winter!
Now I see why some where happy to hear about the rain/snow. What did they do before 100 years ago? 300 miles of aqueduct - hope CA hasn’t cut back on any repairs for it.
Los Angeles had a relatively small population before the aqueduct was built and they obtained their water mainly from wells. But the city couldn’t grow much without more water which is why water officials from L.A. came up here to the Owens Valley in the Sierra and bought out ranches, under less than, shall we say, upfront terms, to get the water rights. Do a web search on “Owens Valley Water” and then rent the movie “Chinatown” starring Jack Nicholson. Tells the whole story.
So which Church do you belong to in town?
Sadly we have to drive to Santa Barbara and back tomorrow for a holiday party. Been driving a lot tonight out in it too. I know it’s “just rain” but no one is used to driving in the rain, and it’s a madhouse on the roads and freeways.
I'm with you.
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