How is the weather?

[Spotted Horses]

I was wondering how you were doing.

Doing a quick bit of googling, I found this article in Scientific American which says that "Geologic evidence shows that truly massive floods, caused by rainfall alone, have occurred in California every 100 to 200 years."  Wow!    Hard to fathom the damage that it did.

The article is here:  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/atmospheric-rivers-california-megaflood-lessons-from-forgotten-catastrophe/

PD

Yes, we have to worry about more than one type of "big one."

I shouldn't be to flippant about this storm (ongoing). Some areas were hit hard. But it is not as unprecedented as it is being cast in some parts of the media. They show a picture of a flooded roadway and it creates the impression that the entire region is flooded.

[lunar22]

my brother was a professional weather forecaster and I've kept records for decades. Compared to parts of the USA, the weather is fairly even-tempered here in Stuttgart. Winters alternate somewhat between mild, damp Atlantic weather and colder continental conditions from the east/NE. January was not untypical with two weeks largely sub-zero (celsius, obviously) and the rest mild and wet. In recent years, especially in February, the mild conditions have predominated. As it is at the moment with up to 15C expected by the weekend. If anything, high summer is the least pleasant season here for someone used to Scottish conditions as the general lack of wind in this valley situation and at times high humidity can make for a stifling week or two at times if the temp persistently goes above 30C.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Yes, we have to worry about more than one type of "big one."

I shouldn't be to flippant about this storm (ongoing). Some areas were hit hard. But it is not as unprecedented as it is being cast in some parts of the media. They show a picture of a flooded roadway and it creates the impression that the entire region is flooded.

Any idea as to what the longest time in terms of number of rainy days (one after the other or extremely close) you know of in say the past few decades?

PD

[LKB]

Sunday afternoon my power failed, and remained off for twenty hours. NOT how l wanted to spend half of my weekend...

[DavidW]

Sunday afternoon my power failed, and remained off for twenty hours. NOT how l wanted to spend half of my weekend...

Sorry to hear that.    

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Sunday afternoon my power failed, and remained off for twenty hours. NOT how l wanted to spend half of my weekend...

Ack!  Did you lose your heat and/or cooking sources too? 

PD

[LKB]

Ack!  Did you lose your heat and/or cooking sources too? 

PD

Yup, lost everything.

Fortunately l have some first-class friends nearby who took me in overnight, fed me breakfast Monday morning and took me home once power had been restored.

[Spotted Horses]

Any idea as to what the longest time in terms of number of rainy days (one after the other or extremely close) you know of in say the past few decades?

PD

I'm not a native Californian, I've lived in various coastal cities for 15 years of my life (San Diego, Mountainview (San Francisco Bay Area) San Luis Obispo, Ventura). I don't find rain for a week straight to be extremely unusual. I thought the storm in Ventura to be a pretty typical winter storm. I didn't see reports of major damage here, just some flooded roadways and a stretch of the PCH where the surf undercut a section of the roadway running right along the beach. It parked over some areas in Los Angeles and rained very heavily for a long time so it might have been more dramatic there. You really have to be in the area and consume local news reports, because national news will always find some dramatic clip and imply it applies to the entire region.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Interesting, thanks!

Went outside for a short bit (break from cleaning and wanting to get out into the sunshine) and noticed that my snowdrops are coming up!     Some of them have their white flowers forming though none have opened yet.  It's definitely warming up here...hurrah!

PD

[steve ridgway]

Snowdrops on our walk today...

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Snowdrops on our walk today...

Lovely!  Was this in a park that you were walking through?  And isn't it wonderful how bulbs like snowdrops multiply (with a little TLC)...though I'm sure that some gardeners were busy at one point in time planting the majority of these.  Those and grape hyacinths. 

PD

[steve ridgway]

Lovely!  Was this in a park that you were walking through?  And isn't it wonderful how bulbs like snowdrops multiply (with a little TLC)...though I'm sure that some gardeners were busy at one point in time planting the majority of these.  Those and grape hyacinths. 

PD

This was the woods and gardens around a country house that hosts weddings and other functions. It has a nice covered outdoor area where we can sit with the dogs and eat steak and ale pie, fish and chips etc. (and we take ham for the dogs).

[Pohjolas Daughter]

This was the woods and gardens around a country house that hosts weddings and other functions. It has a nice covered outdoor area where we can sit with the dogs and eat steak and ale pie, fish and chips etc. (and we take ham for the dogs).

Looks yummy!  Don't believe that I've ever had steak and ale pie before?  The crust and batter on the fish look nice and flakey and light and crisp respectively.

PD

[krummholz]

18C.  It's been 15C some mornings.  I had to buy some warm slippers; I've always gone barefoot indoors. I'm sure that sounds like tropical weather from Finland.  I don't care for temps much under 22C or so.  I'm convinced that 20C was only a comfortable "room temperature" back in the days when men wore 3-piece wool suits at the office.

I agree, 18ºC is chilly for sitting around and doing nothing. I can stand 20ºC with a warm sweater (it's the approx temp right now in my office at work), but not in short sleeves, not for longer than about 5 minutes.

Weather update from central Vermont: it wasn't as cold last night as most nights recently, only down to about -5ºC. But it's come up fast with the February sun, currently +5ºC. Most of that 10º rise happened in the last 2 hours, as it was still -3ºC when I left home at 0930 EST.

[steve ridgway]

Just at freezing point yesterday. Snow settling at the higher parts of our walk..

[steve ridgway]

..but not lower down.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Just at freezing point yesterday. Snow settling at the higher parts of our walk..

That must be one of your pups? 

Here it was in the mid-forties (or higher)--which is 7+ in Celsius--and sunny!    Alas, our short run of sunny days has changed over to clouds today, but it should get even a bit warmer today.

By the way, I did notice yesterday that my first snow drop had bloomed.  Yay!

PD

[drogulus]

    The weather is very ridiculous. Tomorrow it will be 59°. Since the new year temps have mostly been in the 30s and 40s. One day it got down to the low 20s. How is this winter? I want a refund!!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The weather is very ridiculous. Tomorrow it will be 59°. Since the new year temps have mostly been in the 30s and 40s. One day it got down to the low 20s. How is this winter? I want a refund!!

Wow!  That's quite high!

PD

[krummholz]

Wow!  That's quite high!

PD

Even quite a ways north of MA, we saw 12ºC yesterday (briefly - it cooled down quickly after that). So yes, New England is on an above normal streak for sure!