Source: US west coast braces for ‘atmospheric river’ as huge storm brews | California | The Guardian A huge Pacific storm is poised to unleash conditions known as an “atmospheric river”, with torrential rains and strong winds putting about 10 million people at risk of flash floods in parts of northern California this weekend. The incoming tempest has raised fears of mudslides, especially in areas charred during record-setting wildfires this summer. . . . Bob Wilson
Nice early start to refill our hydroelectric resources and aquifers. And good this fell today (Sunday) with lowest necessary commuting day of the week and allowing more to prepare on the weekend.
Well that was much ado about nothing, so far. It rained some, and I noticed some of the trees in our yard move a little. Maybe I just sleep soundly: B.C. 'bomb' cyclone update: Latest weather, cancellations, power outages | Vancouver Sun Mentioned in the above: the container ship floundering and with cargo afire (and 40 containers gone overboard) off Victoria is a casualty of this same storm, if I'm not mistaken.
It was a far bigger deal down here, peaking with over 150k customers out of power, and lots of roads closed by fallen trees, killing two. Our street was among the closed, the power was out nearly 17 hours, the phone / cable / internet lines are still down, some I'm on mobile hotspot. During a lull after lots of debris had clattered down on the metal roof, I went outside to check on how much damage there was. But another sudden wind burst hit, making the entire yard unsafe, prompting me to run for the overhead shelter of the porch. A large branch slammed down just barely behind me, not big enough to kill, but enough to severely hurt. That same burst took down the above tree several blocks away, causing this neighborhood's outages. It hit perfectly on a driveway between houses. I talked to one of those homeowners this morning, he was out preemptively fueling his generator when things got interesting. He witnessed this tree sway, then its insect-damaged trunk buckle and burst before it fell. He was in the fall zone and had to run back quickly before it came down. The wind isn't over. After a reasonably quiet night, it is windy again today, and probably tomorrow afternoon as well.
@fuzzy1 that's the sense I got; looks like the vortex is positioned directly adjacent to Washington. Plus you don't have Vancouver Island for a buffer. Tofino/Ucluelet got the brunt up here it looks like. Hoping it calms down, and soon.
Our coast had much stronger winds than here, but Vancouver Island was always set to take the brunt of this event. Our power is out yet again as more wind gusts run through. But at least it was on long enough to recharge all batteries, warm the house, reheat the hot water tank, and cool the fridge and freezer. Counting another outage late last week, this adds up to Round 3.
No power loss here in the North / East Bay Area. But I did have to pump some level out of the pool. Definitely was raining hard for several hours here which is needed.
Never trust a squirrel with long range forecasting. Stick with the wooly bears, being cold-blooded, they are much more serious about this stuff.
Insects (also) shiver to warm performance-critical muscles in their small bodies. True fact. But I am not aware that any larval-stage insects do.
There is the Wooly Bisco caterpillar. Rare, but they shiver up a storm. Of course they're hardly larval. Guess you're right...
