Sometimes, I don’t.
An “exceptional” atmospheric river, rated Category 5, is drenching the Pacific Northwest, unleashing a fire hose of moisture — heavy, flooding downpours, along with mudslides and strong winds in parts of coastal Oregon and Washington. Up to 10 inches of rain are possible, with multiple feet of snow in the high elevations. And signs point to another atmospheric river targeting the region late in the week.
Unfortunately, the left over bits of PNW storms often end up here in Minnesota as blizzards.
If California could cut a deal with Washington to take the excess water, both states would be much happier.
Since I’m quarantined anyway, it wasn’t that big a deal. Glad our power didn’t go out, though. That sucks. Especially when it’s multiple days. Besides, I like rain for the most part. I get pretty nervous if it doesn’t rain for over a month.
Rain is no hardship away from floodplains and steep hillsides. You alder move back when you retire.
The feared follow-up to that storm has yet to materialize here in the lowlands. Yesterday (here in Tacoma) was sunny, dry, and warm enough that I was able to hit the bike paths for a few hours wearing a light sweatshirt and cutoff jeans. Today is cloudy, but everything is bare and dry. That burst we had earlier in the week was a mess for sure…about 100,000 people regionally lost power, and power companies have yet to restore everyone’s service. A lot of the moisture has ended up in the Cascades as snowfall, which has been sorely needed…we may actually stay out of drought conditions this year because of the last storm.
I can vouch for the voracity of the wind. I live on the Oregon coast and had an 80-foot section of cedar fence blown down around 1am Wednesday night. On the coast, wind is the norm, of course, but these were strange, powerful gusts interspersed with absolute calm. Never seen anything like it.
I would love to move back when I retire, but even more, I want to be close to the children and grandkids, who seem to have acquired an unfathomable appreciation of the midwest. I guess I raised them wrong.
Actually this winter has been pretty mild up here in the upper corner of the country. A bit wetter than normal, and a heck of a windstorm a couple days ago, but otherwise not too bad. Way better than any Minnesota winter.
It’s gods judgement on amurica i tells yer ,that’s what you get for disbelieving that the donald won the election ,repeat ,sorry i mean repent .
When we were in Seattle in 2005 ,had a trip around the harbour on a big boat ,the tour guide said that Seattle didn’t get
all that much rain .And I was shocked ,shocked i tell you to discover that there is no such building as Elliot Bay Towers ,you know ,where Fraser Crane lived .LOL.
All the rain this winter is putting the kibosh on my rockhounding activities. The rivers are at full stage and the place where I would normally go are under 10-12 feet underwater right now. Last winter was pretty dry so we need the rain. And when the rivers do drop, its going to be agate heaven for me. Was able to do a little urban rockhounding yesterday and found six rocks so my habit has been fed a bit. Come on springtime.
The snow and freezing temperatures are also wrecking my spidering activities.
Live in Tacoma now, but lived up in Renton and Tukwila area as well. Come on home PZ, we will happily take you.
Although I don’t mind sharing our extra water with California, contrary to a lot of locals, I am cool if you guys come up.
Your kids like the Midwest, but maple that will change. Ok, I’ll stop now.
On the central California coast, it’s warm and dry. If it doesn’t rain more in the next few weeks, the coming summer’s fire season could put last summer’s to shame.
Eric Lander as Biden’s chief scientist? (director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy)
Here in Southern Arizona we’re on the cusp of a megadrought.
At my house in midtown Tucson we got one (1!) summer rainstorm, in a season that normally provides roughly half our annual rainfall (which is only 11″ ) 2020 the official rainfall total for Tucson was only 4″.
https://tucson.com/news/local/were-parched-2020-brought-tucsons-driest-year-on-record/article_1cdf0f08-14f2-528a-839b-d388810353cd.html
We would happily take any of that rain the Northwest could spare us.
There is one good way to share PNW water with California that most haven’t considered. Hear me out. We ship water to So-Cal in the form of BEER. Beer takes a lot of water to make, as much as 10 gallons of water per single gallon of beer. SAVE CALIFORNIA WATER! Buy Oregon beer.
Makes sense to me.
I’m with Robro – worried about the sparse rain that we’ve received so far this “rainy season”.
We’re hoping for some more rain here in Monterey.
I feel you about the kids, PZ. I’m forever sorry that my youngest girls grew up in Texas. The youngest has gone full Texan, and married a Trumper. We can barely communicate. Her slightly older sister got out of Texas, to Colorado, but is burdened with sharing a son with a Trumper. I wish that we had never been stationed in Texas.
Unfortunately, three of my five kids are living in Texas. We’ve managed to escape, and I wish that at least the two who are not Trumpers manage to get out of there.
I am told the northern polar vortex has split in two with condequences for the jet stream, usually dragging really cold air southwards. And Spain promptly got temperatures down to-25°C.
I do not know if the superdrought is connected to the jet stream or of that is a completely separate phenomenon.
Fun facts: even without global climate change Yucatan gets ultra-suoer-drought once every few centuries.
And the midwest got really dry for a couple of centuries during the middle ages. That is without throwing a carbon spanner in the works.
But the Kochs and others who financed climate denialism will be safely dead when the real shit hits the fan, so I guess that makes everything OK.
davidc1 @8
Naah, this is because them furrin’ messican papists are comin’ here, the Lord does not like them pagan ways.
Also, because the baby-killing libruls have defiled the compact with the Lord ‘Merica was founded on.
And Benghazi.
@19 Never did dun do looked at it that before .
I think sooner or later California is going to have to resort to making fresh water from sea water ,i forget
the fancy word for it .They could flog some to the parched citizens of the South West ,for a nice fat profit
of course .
I know the process is expensive ,but using solar energy might help with the cost .