Help Weather Forecasters Collect Data

 

Volunteers help National Weather Service forecasters by reading rain gauges every day. Photo courtesy: National Weather Service.

SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The National Weather Service is looking for volunteers throughout California to collect information that will help forecasters predict weather, especially significant events. Each person will need a 4-inch rain gauge, the Internet, and a few minutes every day, according to NWS San Diego meteorologist Jimmy Taeger.

“Numerous locations around California, especially in the mountains and deserts, lack valuable precipitation reporting,” Taeger said. “Community Collaborative Rain Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) is a non-profit group of volunteer precipitation observers. They report rain, hail and snow as well as any significant weather as it occurs. Anyone can join, and it’s easy to report the information.”

Taeger said the CoCoRaHS web site is easy to navigate and has instructions for anyone to learn how to record an observation. The site also has daily maps of observer’s reports showing where precipitation fell the day before.

“It’s fun to compare the different amounts of precipitation that can fall in an area from just one storm,” he stated.

Taeger said the information is very valuable for hydrologists, farmers and many others besides weather forecasters.

If you’re interested in becoming part of the CoCoRaHS network from school, work or home, visit www.cocorahs.org to sign up. You can also e-mail Jimmy.Taeger@noaa.gov or call 858-675-8700 with any questions.

This article was generated from a news release.

Where’s El Nino?

By Julie Pendray

Idyllwild, Calif. — What happened to Southern California’s expected rain? It’s a question asked by many of us since January’s mountain snow and February’s warm dry days. Spring seems to have sprung. Trees are blossoming, squirrels are building nests, birds are chasing each other around the trees and bulbs are coming up.

File photo of Lily Rock, Idyllwild, taken from Humber Park. Photo: Julie Pendray.

But don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched, National Weather Service is saying. March and April could bring heavy precipitation.

Those are generally the wettest months, according to Alex Tardy, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the NWS office in San Diego, which covers the Southern California region, including Idyllwild.

“March is typically the wettest month on record for strong El Ninos,” he stated in a slide show presentation of weather models and historical data he published on You Tube today. “Even in a non-El Nino period, we could expect 4 to 7 inches of rain in the Southern California mountains.”

Slide from National Weather Service presentation provided by Alex Tardy.

He said models and historical data indicate “above normal probabilities of precipitation” for March. “This is not an indication of flooding, per se.”

What happened in February?

Last month was one of the hottest and driest Februarys on record for Southern California, Tardy said.

“The storm track basically buckled in February and went up and over most of California, not just Southern California,”he said.

Most of our region is now below where it should be for precipitation at this time of year, the meteorologist said. “Most of southwestern California is doing very poor, at about 50 percent of normal.”

Compared to the two strong El Ninos in 1983 and 1998, the precipitation this winter through February has been 30 to 50 percent of those periods in some areas, he said.

The ocean temperatures in the El Nino zone are still as warm as they’ve been all winter and they’re just as significant as they were in 1997/98, he added.

The storm track is what’s different.

“The storm source regions have been there but the storms are not making it this far east,” Tardy said. “In the past month, the storm regions have been going way too far to the north.”

The bottom line?

Enjoy the early daffodils but don’t put your rain and snow gear away yet.

To view the You Tube slide presentation by Tardy, click here.

Copyright Julie Pendray and SpecialsNotOnTheMenu.com

 

 

 

Idyllwild Christmas Tree Lighting

Idyllwild’s Christmas Tree.

By Julie Pendray

IDYLLWILD, Calif. — With many Idyllwild businesses and homes retaining their colored outdoor lights well beyond the holidays, a lot of this mountain town appears to be straight out of Santa’s Village no matter what time of year.

However, Idyllwild’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting is the icing on the cake.

Flatlanders come in droves to enjoy an old-fashioned family-oriented day of shopping and activities, ending the day singing carols. It’s a kickoff for the season.

The lighting of 5,000 Christmas bulbs on this Sequoia at Jo’An’s Restaurant Idyllwild will be Nov. 28. Photo: Julie Pendray.

Idyllwild’s 55th Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, “An Olde Fashioned Christmas,” will be Saturday after Thanksgiving, on Nov. 28. More than 5,000 lights will be lit on the 100-foot-tall Sequoia at Jo’An’s Restaurant in the center of town at about 30 minutes after sundown. Sundown will be at 4:43 p.m. Then the crowd will sing Christmas carols.

During the day, musicians and singers will get visitors warmed up for the evening’s event. They’ll include The Caroling Company, Idyllwild Community Choir and guitarist David Jerome. There’ll be a Santa’s Workshop from 1 to 3 p.m. and again from 5:15 to 7:30 p.m. in the Gazebo at the Village Center.

Santa will arrive by fire truck at 4:30 p.m. Then Idyllwild Children’s Choir will sing, followed by Doug Austin and the Old English Theatre Players performing “The Night Before Christmas.”

Afterward, the audience will sing along with Diane Burt and The Caroling Company, Idyllwild Community Choir singers and other choir volunteers.

Sandii Castleberry will be master of ceremonies. This year, the Soroptimists are offering a $250 money hat drawing. Castleberry will announce the winner half way through the ceremony, along with the winner of a Christmas quilt drawing offered by Mountain Quilters.

Mayor Max is a community elected golden retriever who welcomes guests to the unincorporated mountain village of Idyllwild, California. Photo: Julie Pendray.

About 20 non-profit organizations will have information booths set up from 10 a.m. to  5 p.m. at the Village Center, at Village Center Drive and Park Lane. Holiday food will be served and there’ll be a cookie decorating booth. An elf and reindeer will provide photo opportunities and there’ll be holiday gift items and bouquets of mistletoe for sale. The unincorporated village’s elected golden retriever, Mayor Max, will greet the crowd.

The Old Fashioned Christmas is sponsored by Soroptimist International of Idyllwild. More than 300 community members and merchants donate time and financial resources to the event.

If you plan to stay for the tree lighting, dress warmly. The temperature is expected to be in the 30s by early evening, with a slight chance of showers and breezy, according to the National Weather Service.

Visitors will be able to take the chill off by gathering around a big fire pot and other warmers on the restaurant grounds.