So it looks like this storm system is going to give the state a beating. According to the CHP Website, lots of flooding and traffic accidents in the LA, SF areas. Cant wait for 50mph winds here in the valley. I already got the candles ready 
Wild California Storms
- Thread starter emt_531
- Start date
- Status
scannerface27
Member
storm
david, try not to beleive the hype you know theese guys sometimes dont know their heads from their -ss. ,wind advisory up by me hear in the desert and nothing but normal wind so far... well take care.
david, try not to beleive the hype you know theese guys sometimes dont know their heads from their -ss. ,wind advisory up by me hear in the desert and nothing but normal wind so far... well take care.
landonjensen
Member
Large Tree into House in Alhambra CA.... Engine74 require USAR to scene; Bonito IC; Live Scanner Feed: Tinyurl.com/LAFEED
Eng74
Member
The rain started just before 6 a.m. in Ridgecrest and hasn't stopped. No wind so far.
DPD1
Member
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2005
- Messages
- 1,994
- Reaction score
- 3
It got fairly windy today, but I didn't see anything drastic in SFV. Some cells were pretty heavy, but not too bad.
The best they came up with for last night was a "mud slide" on a nearby cyn. road. Problem is, the "mud slide" was about a foot of mud on the road, which pretty much happens in the same place each time it rains. They also always setup a camera at the same corner that always gets the deepest puddle going in the whole valley, then do a piece on "flooding in the valley". Kind of funny.
The best they came up with for last night was a "mud slide" on a nearby cyn. road. Problem is, the "mud slide" was about a foot of mud on the road, which pretty much happens in the same place each time it rains. They also always setup a camera at the same corner that always gets the deepest puddle going in the whole valley, then do a piece on "flooding in the valley". Kind of funny.
Up here in snow country it has snowed lightly to moderately (0.5 - 1.5" per hour) off and on since Sunday morning, with a total accumulation of about 12-14". We don't consider it an average snowstorm unless it yields more than 24". Here is my perspective on snowstorms in the eastern Sierra after living here for 27 years:
Amount of snow in
a single storm *. . . . . . Description of storm
Covers ground. . . . . . . .skiff
Covers ground to 6” . . . .a dusting
7” to 12”. . . . . . . . . . . . a weak storm which split, broke up, or missed (passed north
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . or south of us), or is the accumulation from instability
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . showers the behind a front
13” to 18”. . . . . . . . . . . a so-so storm
19” to 24”. . . . . . . . . . . a teaser
25” to 36”. . . . . . . . . . . an average sort of storm
37” to 48”. . . . . . . . . . . a fairly heavy snowstorm (95% of locals will remember for a
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . month or two and then forget)
49” to 60”. . . . . . . . . . . a heavy storm (25% of locals will remember for 1-2 years)
61” to 72”. . . . . . . . . . . a really heavy dumper (50% of locals will remember for 2-3
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . years)
73” to 96”. . . . . . . . . . . a memorable storm (80% of locals will remember for 4 years,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40% will remember remember for 5+ years)
97” to 120”. . . . . . . . . . .an unforgettable storm (90% of locals will remember even if
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they didn’t live here at the time, and those who did embellish
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the stories)
121” to ?. . . . . . . . . . . .February of 1969. Nothing in the past 50 years tops this
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .one. Everyone who knows the area knows this story! **
* Duration can be anything from 5 minutes to 14 days as long as it doesn’t stop snowing for more than about 2 hours.
** Most older locals will tell you that the most snow depth at one time came in 1952 when power lines just below the snow surface presented a frequent hazard to cross country skiers.
Of course we have noticed that winters are shorter, and seem warmer, so the perspective I have offered here might be changing somewhat. We may need to bump everything up a bracket or two in the coming years.
Then there was 1983 and it was nearly a constant storm all season long except for a couple of 4-6 day breaks. It was the greatest accumulation of water in the snow pack in one year since snow measurements began in 1869. Southern California beaches got pounded and beach front homes from Malibu to San Diego were lost. Lots of wind and high tides that year. In the higher elevations of the Sierra backcountry we estimated that some meadows had a 4-6 day growing season that year. By the time the snow melted there was less than a week before the fall freezing arrived.
Amount of snow in
a single storm *. . . . . . Description of storm
Covers ground. . . . . . . .skiff
Covers ground to 6” . . . .a dusting
7” to 12”. . . . . . . . . . . . a weak storm which split, broke up, or missed (passed north
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . or south of us), or is the accumulation from instability
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . showers the behind a front
13” to 18”. . . . . . . . . . . a so-so storm
19” to 24”. . . . . . . . . . . a teaser
25” to 36”. . . . . . . . . . . an average sort of storm
37” to 48”. . . . . . . . . . . a fairly heavy snowstorm (95% of locals will remember for a
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . month or two and then forget)
49” to 60”. . . . . . . . . . . a heavy storm (25% of locals will remember for 1-2 years)
61” to 72”. . . . . . . . . . . a really heavy dumper (50% of locals will remember for 2-3
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . years)
73” to 96”. . . . . . . . . . . a memorable storm (80% of locals will remember for 4 years,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40% will remember remember for 5+ years)
97” to 120”. . . . . . . . . . .an unforgettable storm (90% of locals will remember even if
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . they didn’t live here at the time, and those who did embellish
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the stories)
121” to ?. . . . . . . . . . . .February of 1969. Nothing in the past 50 years tops this
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .one. Everyone who knows the area knows this story! **
* Duration can be anything from 5 minutes to 14 days as long as it doesn’t stop snowing for more than about 2 hours.
** Most older locals will tell you that the most snow depth at one time came in 1952 when power lines just below the snow surface presented a frequent hazard to cross country skiers.
Of course we have noticed that winters are shorter, and seem warmer, so the perspective I have offered here might be changing somewhat. We may need to bump everything up a bracket or two in the coming years.
Then there was 1983 and it was nearly a constant storm all season long except for a couple of 4-6 day breaks. It was the greatest accumulation of water in the snow pack in one year since snow measurements began in 1869. Southern California beaches got pounded and beach front homes from Malibu to San Diego were lost. Lots of wind and high tides that year. In the higher elevations of the Sierra backcountry we estimated that some meadows had a 4-6 day growing season that year. By the time the snow melted there was less than a week before the fall freezing arrived.
Last edited:
linuxwrangler
Member
We went to Royal Gorge area for the weekend. Lots of talk about the storm but we only had about an extra 30-45 minutes extra travel time each way. On the way up, traffic stopped for about 30 minutes, on the way back we had to put on chains and drive 30 instead of 60.
This was our becoming-annual trip for my daughter to see snow. Last year we went in March and got hit by a foot or so overnight. This year was more but still powdery winter-wonderland stuff. I guess at age 4 it's still OK to believe that snow is always clean, white and fluffy.
Got back to the Bay Area and saw a couple reports of trees down and traffic accidents, but not really that big a deal. I'm just hoping it keeps raining through March. With reservoirs as low as they are, we need another "March miracle."
This was our becoming-annual trip for my daughter to see snow. Last year we went in March and got hit by a foot or so overnight. This year was more but still powdery winter-wonderland stuff. I guess at age 4 it's still OK to believe that snow is always clean, white and fluffy.
Got back to the Bay Area and saw a couple reports of trees down and traffic accidents, but not really that big a deal. I'm just hoping it keeps raining through March. With reservoirs as low as they are, we need another "March miracle."
DPD1
Member
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2005
- Messages
- 1,994
- Reaction score
- 3
You know, I've always wondered about this. I've never been able to tell if it's just me, or it really is less severe now. In the midwest when I was a kid, it seemed like it snowed every other day and it was very cold for at least a few months. We actually sledded off the roof numerous years because the snow was so deep, so I know I didn't imagine that. But now days it doesn't seem as bad. Though the last couple years, I guess they got hit fairly hard.
We went to Royal Gorge area for the weekend. Lots of talk about the storm but we only had about an extra 30-45 minutes extra travel time each way. On the way up, traffic stopped for about 30 minutes, on the way back we had to put on chains and drive 30 instead of 60.
This was our becoming-annual trip for my daughter to see snow. Last year we went in March and got hit by a foot or so overnight. This year was more but still powdery winter-wonderland stuff. I guess at age 4 it's still OK to believe that snow is always clean, white and fluffy.
Got back to the Bay Area and saw a couple reports of trees down and traffic accidents, but not really that big a deal. I'm just hoping it keeps raining through March. With reservoirs as low as they are, we need another "March miracle."
It was probably a "March Miracle" where water supplies depend on rain. For the snow pack hydrologists called it the "March Farce." It had been warm in February and began to snow around the 1st of March, and then snowed 28 out of the 31 days in March. Around April 1st it turned exceptionally warm for that time of year. Under these circumstances the snow never gets a chance to compress and refreeze. The snow is then subject to "sublimation," a process where water in the solid form (snow) turns to vapor without going through the liquid phase. The effects of sublimation are greater when snow is less dense as there is more of a chance for air to circulate through the snow pack. This was the situation during March of that year (I believe 1990 if I remember right. The warm April air caused an unusually high amount of sublimation and the runoff from that March snow was so insignificant that the name "March Farce" was given to the event by those who work with snow pack and water yield measurements.
At my house at nearly 8,000 feet the snow was gone in less than 3 weeks, including the large pile at the end of the driveway where the loader deposits the snow. It was an interesting experience, as some winters are, because the conditions were outside the average and memorable. When you work with snow pack measurements for 8 to 9 months a year and then work with the results of the pack and how it melts, because all your work in the field is affected by it, you tend to become quite knowledgeable on what influences the deposit and melting of snow. During the winter it is necessary to follow the snow pack and weather in detail to keep up on avalanche conditions. This is one of the most fascinating endeavors I was ever involved with in my career. Do it wrong and you die!
- Status
